An interlaboratory comparison of physiological and genetic properties of four Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains

To select a Saccharomyces cerevisiae reference strain amenable to experimen tal techniques used in (molecular) genetic, physiological and biochemical e ngineering research, a variety of properties were studied in Four diploid, prototrophic laboratory strains. The following parameters were investigated : 1) maximum specific growth rare in shake-flask cultures; 2) biomass yield s on glucose during growth on defined media in batch cultures and steady-st ate chemostat cultures under controlled conditions with respect to pH and d issolved oxygen concentration; 3) the critical specific growth rate above w hich aerobic fermentation becomes apparent in glucose-limited accelerostat cultures; 4) sporulation and mating efficiency; and 5) transformation effic iency via the lithium-acetate. bicine, and electroporation methods. On the basis of physiological as well as genetic properties, strains from the CEN. PK family were selected as a platform for cell-factory research on the stoi chiometry and kinetics of growth and product formation. (C) 2000 Elsevier S cience Inc. All rights reserved.