INDUCTION OF GLUTATHIONE-PEROXIDASE BY REACTIVE OXYGEN IN THE YEAST HANSENULA-MRAKII

The yeast Hansenula mrakii IFO 0895 induces glutathione peroxidase whe n exposed to exogenous lipid hydroperoxides (Inoue, Y. et al., Agric. Biol. Chem., 54, 3289-3293, 1990). When protoplasts of H. mrakii were treated in a hydroxyl radical- and superoxide radical-generating syste ms; i.e., H2O2 + Fe2+, and xanthine + xanthine oxidase, respectively, glutathione peroxidase was also induced. This suggested that the induc tion of glutathione peroxidase is one of the mechanisms in H. mrakii f or adaptation to various oxidative stresses.