Three aldo-keto reductases of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Saccharomyces cerevisiae is an industrially important yeast, which is also used extensively as a model eukaryote. The S. cerevisiae genome has been se quenced in its entirety and therefore represents an ideal organism in which to carry out functional analysis of genes. We have identified several open reading frames in the S. cerevisiae genome which show significant similari ty to members of the aldo-keto reductase superfamily. The physiological rol es of these gene products have not been previously determined, but their si milarity to other enzymes suggests they may perform roles in carbohydrate m etabolism and detoxification pathways. Cloning and expression of three of t hese enzymes has allowed their substrate specificities to be determined. Ex pression profiling and gene disruption analysis will allow potential roles for these enzymes within the cell to be examined. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.