Eukaryotic Adaptation to Years-Long Starvation Resembles that of Bacteria

Tzemach Aouizerat; Daniel Gelman; Amir Szitenberg; Itay Gutman; Shunit Glazer; Eli Reich; Miriam Schoemann; Rachel Kaplan; Amijai Saragovi; Ronen Hazan; Michael Klutstein

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2019.08.002

Eukaryotic Adaptation to Years-Long Starvation Resembles that of Bacteria

iScience. 2019 Sep 27:19:545-558. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2019.08.002. Epub 2019 Aug 8.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Dental Sciences, Faculty of Dental Medicine, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, P.O.B. 12272, Ein Kerem, Jerusalem 9112001, Israel.
² Microbial and Metagenomics Division, Dead Sea and Arava Science Center, Masada 8698000, Israel.
³ The Lautenberg Center for Immunology and Cancer Research, The Institute for Medical Research Israel-Canada, Faculty of Medicine, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 9112001, Israel.
⁴ Institute of Dental Sciences, Faculty of Dental Medicine, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, P.O.B. 12272, Ein Kerem, Jerusalem 9112001, Israel. Electronic address: ronenh@ekmd.huji.ac.il.
⁵ Institute of Dental Sciences, Faculty of Dental Medicine, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, P.O.B. 12272, Ein Kerem, Jerusalem 9112001, Israel. Electronic address: michaelk@ekmd.huji.ac.il.

Abstract

The Growth Advantage in Stationary Phase (GASP) phenomenon, described in bacteria, reflects the genetic adaptation of bacteria to stress, including starvation, for a long time. Unlike in stationary phase where no cell division occurs, GASP harbors active cell division, concurrent with genetic adaptation. Here we show that GASP occurs also in eukaryotes. Two strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae (Sc404 and Sc424) have been isolated from 2-year-old sealed bottles of beer. These strains presented advantage in survival and growth over the parent during stress. The differences between the strains are irreversible and therefore genetic in origin rather than epigenetic. Direct competition assays show that Sc404 and Sc424 outcompete the parent in direct competition. DNA sequencing shows changes of the genome: the TOR complexes are mutated, and DNA repair gene mutations confer a mutator phenotype. The differences between the strains are reflected in a difference in taste between beers brewed from them.

Keywords: Biological Sciences; Cell Biology; Genetics; Microbial Genetics; Microbiology; Molecular Microbiology.