Proteomic insights into adaptive responses of Saccharomyces cerevisiae to the repeated vacuum fermentation

The responses and adaptation mechanisms of the industrial Saccharomyces cerevisiae to vacuum fermentation were explored using proteomic approach. After qualitative and quantitative analyses, a total of 106 spots corresponding to 68 different proteins were identified by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry. The differentially expressed proteins were involved in amino acid and carbohydrate metabolisms, various signal pathways (Ras/MAPK, Ras-cyclic adenosine monophosphate, and HOG pathway), and heat shock and oxidative responses. Among them, alternations in levels of 17 proteins associated with carbohydrate metabolisms, in particular, the upregulations of proteins involved in glycolysis, trehalose biosynthesis, and the pentose phosphate pathway, suggested vacuum-induced redistribution of the metabolic fluxes. The upregulation of 17 heat stress and oxidative response proteins indicated that multifactors contributed to oxidative stresses by affecting cell redox homeostasis. Taken together with upregulation in 14-3-3 proteins levels, 22 proteins were detected in multispots, respectively, indicating that vacuum might have promoted posttranslational modifications of some proteins in S. cerevisiae. Further investigation revealed that the elevations of the differentially expressed proteins were mainly derived from vacuum stress rather than the absence of oxygen. These findings provide new molecular mechanisms for understanding of adaptation and tolerance of yeast to vacuum fermentation.