Issatchenkia orientalis, a non-Saccharomyces yeast that can resist a wide variety of environmental stresses, has potential use in winemaking and bioethanol production. Little is known about gene expression or the physiology of I. orientalis under ethanol stress. In this study, high-throughput RNA sequencing was used to investigate the transcriptome profile of I. orientalis in response to ethanol. 502 gene transcripts were differentially expressed, of which 451 were more abundant, and 51 less abundant, in cells subjected to 4 h of ethanol stress (10% v/v). Annotation and statistical analyses suggest that multiple genes involved in ergosterol biosynthesis, trehalose metabolism, and stress response are differentially expressed under these conditions. The up-regulation of molecular chaperones HSP90 and HSP70, and also genes associated with the ubiquitin-proteasome proteolytic pathway suggests that ethanol stress may cause aggregation of misfolded proteins. Finally, ethanol stress in I. orientalis appears to have a nitrogen starvation effect, and many genes involved in nutrient uptake were up-regulated.
Keywords: Ethanol stress; Issatchenkia orientalis; RNA-Seq; Transcriptome; Wine fermentation.