Analysis on yeast short-term Crabtree effect and its origin.

The short-term Crabtree effect is defined as the immediate appearance of aerobic alcoholic fermentation upon a pulse of excess sugar to sugar-limited yeast cultures. In this paper we characterized ten different yeast species, having a clearly defined phylogenetic relationship. Yeast species were cultivated under glucose-limited conditions, and upon a glucose pulse we studied their general carbon metabolism. We generated an extensive collection of data on glucose and oxygen consumption, and ethanol and carbon dioxide generation. We conclude that Pichia, Debaryomyces, Eremothecium and Kluyveromyces marxianus yeasts did not exhibit any significant ethanol formation, while Kluyveromyces lactis behaved as an intermediate yeast, and Lachancea, Torulaspora, Vanderwaltozyma and Saccharomyces yeasts exhibited rapid ethanol accumulation. Based on our previous data set covering over forty yeast species for the presence of the long-term Crabtree effect and our present data, we can speculate that the origin of the short-term effect may coincide with the origin of the long-term Crabtree effect in the Saccharomycetales lineage, taking place approximately 150 million years ago. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.