A novel mechanism regulates H(2) S and SO(2) production in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Sulfite (SO(2) ) plays an important role in flavour stability in alcoholic beverages, whereas hydrogen sulfide (H(2) S) has an undesirable aroma. To discover the cellular processes that control SO(2) and H(2) S production, we screened a library of Saccharomyces cerevisiae deletion mutants. Deletion of 12 genes led to increased H(2) S productivity.

Development of bottom-fermenting saccharomyces strains that produce high SO2 levels, using integrated metabolome and transcriptome analysis.

Sulfite plays an important role in beer flavor stability. Although breeding of bottom-fermenting Saccharomyces strains that produce high levels of SO(2) is desirable, it is complicated by the fact that undesirable H(2)S is produced as an intermediate in the same pathway. Here, we report the development of a high-level SO(2)-producing bottom-fermenting yeast strain by integrated metabolome and transcriptome analysis.

Archaeal Pyrococcus furiosus thymidylate synthase 1 is an RNA-binding protein.

Using a stem-loop RNA oligonucleotide (19-mer) containing an AUG sequence in the loop region as a probe, we screened the protein library from a hyperthermophilic archaeon, Pyrococcus furiosus, and found that a flavin-dependent thymidylate synthase, Pf-Thy1 (Pyrococcus furiosus thymidylate synthase 1), possessed RNA-binding activity. Recombinant Pf-Thy1 was able to bind to the stem-loop structure at a high temperature (75 degrees C) with an apparent dissociation constant of 0.6 microM.