Comparative genomics of biotechnologically important yeasts

• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1603941113
• Publication Date: 2016-08-18T03:03:42Z
• Authors: Robert Riley; Sajeet Haridas; Kenneth H. Wolfe; Mariana R. Lopes; Chris Todd Hittinger; Markus Göker; Asaf A. Salamov; Jennifer H. Wisec...; Tanya M. Long; Christopher H. Ca...; Andrea L. Aerts; Kerrie W. Barry; Cindy Choi; Alicia Clum; Aisling Y. Coughlan; Shweta Deshpande; Alexander P. Doug...; Sara J. Hanson; Hans-Peter Klenk; Kurt M. LaButti; Alla Lapidus; Erika A. Lindquist; Anna M. Lipzen; Jan P. Meier-Kolt...; Robin A. Ohm; Robert P. Otillar; Jasmyn L. Pangilinan; Yi Peng; Antonis Rokas; Carlos A. Rosa; Carmen Scheuner; Andriy A. Sibirny; Jason C. Slot; J. Benjamin Stielow; Hui Sun; Cletus P. Kurtzman; Meredith Blackwell; Igor V. Grigoriev; Thomas W. Jeffries
• Keywords: 0301 basic medicine; Genome; Evolution; Human Genome; microbiology; Molecular; Genomics; bioenergy; genetic code; Evolution, Molecular; Fungal Proteins; 03 medical and health sciences; Fungal; Ascomycota; Species Specificity; Genetic Code; Yeasts; Genetics; genomics; biotechnological yeasts; Genome, Fungal; Metabolic Networks and Pathways; Phylogeny; Biotechnology

Significance The highly diverse Ascomycete yeasts have enormous biotechnological potential. Collectively, these yeasts convert a broad range of substrates into useful compounds, such as ethanol, lipids, and vitamins, and can grow in extremes of temperature, salinity, and pH. We compared 29 yeast genomes with the goal of correlating genetics to useful traits. In one rare species, we discovered a genetic code that translates CUG codons to alanine rather than canonical leucine. Genome comparison enabled correlation of genes to useful metabolic properties and showed the synteny of the mating-type locus to be conserved over a billion years of evolution. Our study provides a roadmap for future biotechnological exploitations.