Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are highly reactive and damage cellular
constituents such as DNA, lipids and proteins, All aerobically growing
organisms are exposed to ROS, As a result most organisms have evolved
mechanisms to protect their components against ROS, This review descr
ibes the oxidant defence systems of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae
, which is an ideal eukaryotic model system to analyse the molecular e
vents in response to oxidative stress, Yeast posses a similar range of
anti-oxidant molecules and enzymes to those found in higher eukaryote
s, Exponentially growing S. cerevisiae have at least two distinct adap
tive stress responses to oxidants, one of which is responsive towards
H2O2 and the other is induced by exposure to compounds that generate s
uperoxide anion, The identification of a number of transcription facto
rs (Yap1, Mac1, Ace1) which are important in the regulation of metal m
etabolism and homeostasis that are also involved in mediating resistan
ce towards oxidants suggests a link between metal metabolism and oxida
tive stress, Heat-shock, nutrient starvation and entry into the statio
nary phase of growth also lead to increased resistance toward oxidants
, The available evidence suggests that the mechanism by which these st
resses result in oxidant resistance may be different from those utilis
ed by exponentially growing cells.