Neutral Trehalases Contribute to Barotolerance in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Abstract

To estimate the contribution of neutral trehalases to barotolerance, we measured barotolerance of neutral trehalase I and/or neutral trehalase II deficient strains. Under 180 MPa for 2 h, the neutral trehalase I deficient strain showed lower barotolerance than the wild type strain. The neutral trehalase II deficient strain did not show lower barotolerance than the wild type strain. However, the neutral trehalase I and neutral trehalase II double mutant showed much lower barotolerance than the neutral trehalase II deficient strain. These results suggest that neutral trehalase I directly contributes to barotolerance and that neutral trehalase II may indirectly contribute to barotolerance. To confirm the direct contribution of neutral trehalase I, we transformed the neutral trehalase I deficient strain with the plasmid which contained neutral trehalase I gene. This transformant showed higher barotolerance than the control strain which carried the plasmid without neutral trehalase I gene. Our data suggest that neutral trehalase I has a direct role in barotolerance.