Abstract:
The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae plays a pivotal role in the production of fermented foods by converting sugars in ingredients into ethanol through alcoholic fermentation. However, how accurate is our understanding of its biological significance? Although yeast is essential to produce alcoholic beverages and bioethanol, yeast does not yield ethanol for humankind. Yeast obtains energy in the form of ATP for its own vital processes through alcoholic fermentation, which generates ethanol as a byproduct. The production of ethanol may have more significance for yeast, since many other organisms do not produce ethanol, a highly toxic substance, to obtain energy. The key to address this issue has not been found using conventional microbiology, where yeasts are isolated and cultured in pure form. This review focuses on a possible novel role of yeast alcohol fermentation, which is revealed through our recent studies of microbial interactions.
摘要:
酿酒酵母通过酒精发酵将成分中的糖转化为乙醇,在发酵食品的生产中起着关键作用。然而,我们对其生物学意义的理解有多准确?尽管酵母对生产酒精饮料和生物乙醇至关重要,酵母对人类不会产生乙醇。酵母通过酒精发酵获得ATP形式的能量,用于其自身的重要过程,产生乙醇作为副产物。乙醇的生产可能对酵母更有意义,由于许多其他生物不产生乙醇,一种剧毒物质,获得能量。解决这个问题的关键还没有找到使用传统的微生物学,其中酵母以纯形式分离和培养。这篇综述的重点是酵母酒精发酵可能的新作用,通过我们最近对微生物相互作用的研究揭示了这一点。