High vanillin tolerance of an evolved Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain owing to its enhanced vanillin reduction and antioxidative capacity

The phenolic compounds present in hydrolysates pose significant challenges for the sustainable lignocellulosic materials refining industry. Three Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains with high tolerance to lignocellulose hydrolysate were obtained through ethyl methanesulfonate mutation and adaptive evolution. Among them, strain EMV-8 exhibits specific tolerance to vanillin, a phenolic compound common in lignocellulose hydrolysate. The EMV-8 maintains a specific growth rate of 0.104 h(-1) in 2 g L-1 vanillin, whereas the reference strain cannot grow. Physiological studies revealed that the vanillin reduction rate of EMV-8 is 1.92-fold higher than its parent strain, and the Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity of EMV-8 is 15 % higher than its parent strain. Transcriptional analysis results confirmed an up-regulated oxidoreductase activity and antioxidant activity in this strain. Our results suggest that enhancing the antioxidant capacity and oxidoreductase activity could be a strategy to engineer S. cerevisiae for improved vanillin tolerance.