Development of a Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain with enhanced resistance to phenolic fermentation inhibitors in lignocellulose hydrolysates by heterologous expression of laccase

To improve production of fuel ethanol from renewable raw materials, laccase from the white rot fungus Trametes versicolor was expressed under control of the PGK1 promoter in Saccharomyces cerevisiae to increase its resistance to phenolic inhibitors in lignocellulose hydrolysates. It was found that the laccase activity could be enhanced twofold by simultaneous overexpression of the homologous t-SNARE Sso2p. The factors affecting the level of active laccase obtained, besides the cultivation temperature, included pH and aeration. Laccase-expressing and Sso2p-overexpressing S. cerevisiae was cultivated in the presence of coniferyl aldehyde to examine resistance to lignocellulose-derived phenolic fermentation inhibitors. The laccase-producing transformant had the ability to convert coniferyl aldehyde at a faster rate than a control transformant not expressing laccase, which enabled faster growth and ethanol formation. The laccase-producing transformant was also able to ferment a dilute acid spruce hydrolysate at a faster rate than the control transformant. A decrease in the content of low-molecular-mass aromatic compounds, accompanied by an increase in the content of high-molecular-mass compounds, was observed during fermentation with the laccase-expressing strain, illustrating that laccase was active even at the very low levels of oxygen supplied. Our results demonstrate the importance of phenolic compounds as fermentation inhibitors and the advantage of using laccase-expressing yeast strains for producing ethanol from lignocellulose.