ABC and MFS transporters involved in multistress defense mechanisms in the model eukaryote Saccharomyces cerevisiae: roles of Pdr18 and Tpo1

Cláudia Sofia Pires Godinho

Key information

Authors:

Cláudia Sofia Pires Godinho (Cláudia Sofia Pires Godinho)

Supervisors:

Isabel Maria De Sá Correia Leite de Almeida (Isabel Sá-Correia); Miguel Nobre Parreira Cacho Teixeira (Miguel Nobre Parreira Cacho Teixeira)

Published in

07/26/2018

Abstract

The experimental model and industrially-relevant yeast species Saccharomyces cerevisiae provides a unique platform for the understanding of the mechanisms underlying yeast adaptation and tolerance to different stresses, which are frequently conserved among more complex eukaryotes. The action of transporters of the ATPbinding cassette (ABC) superfamily and the Major facilitator superfamily (MFS) is among those mechanisms, by presumably catalysing the extrusion of drugs and xenobiotic compounds. However, the action of these putative drug pumps is currently questioned and the notion that the role of these transporters may be indirect, and they may play endogenous biological roles that influence drug partition in the cell, is gaining momentum. The role that has been attributed to several plasma membrane ABC transporters in plasma membrane lipid homeostasis is one of those biological functions. This thesis work focuses on the mechanisms behind S. cerevisiae adaptation to stress induced by acetic and benzoic acid, two weak acids of different lipophilicity and thus different toxicity, both of high relevance in Biotechnology and the Food Industry.