EXPRESSION OF ACYLPHOSPHATASE IN SACCHAROMYCES-CEREVISIAE ENHANCES ETHANOL FERMENTATION RATE

Previous experiments in vitro have demonstrated the ability of acylpho sphatase to increase the rate of glucose fermentation in yeast. To eva luate the possibility of increasing fermentation in vivo also, a chemi cally synthesized DNA sequence coding for human muscle acylphosphatase was expressed at high level in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Ethanol prod uction was measured in these engineered strains in comparison with a c ontrol, Acylphosphatase expression strongly increased the rate of etha nol production both in aerobic and anaerobic culture, This finding may be potentially important for the development of more efficient indust rial fermentation processes.