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The industrial potential of Saccharomyces cerevisiae has extended beyond its traditional use in fermentation to various applications, including recombinant protein production. Herein, comparative genomics was performed with three industrial S. cerevisiae strains and revealed a heterozygous diploid genome for the 98‐5 and KSD‐YC strains (exploited for rice wine fermentation) and a haploid genome for strain Y2805 (used for recombinant protein production). Phylogenomic analysis indicated that Y2805 was closely associated with the reference strain S288C, whereas KSD‐YC and 98‐5 were grouped with Asian and European wine strains, respectively. Particularly, a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in FDC1, involved in the biosynthesis of 4‐vinylguaiacol (4‐VG, a phenolic compound with a clove‐like aroma), was found in KSD‐YC, consistent with its lack of 4‐VG production. Phenotype microarray (PM) analysis showed that KSD‐YC and 98‐5 displayed broader substrate utilization than S288C and Y2805. The SNPs detected by genome comparison were mapped to the genes responsible for the observed phenotypic differences. In addition, detailed information on the structural organization of Y2805 selection markers was validated by Sanger sequencing. Integrated genomics and PM analysis elucidated the evolutionary history and genetic diversity of industrial S. cerevisiae strains, providing a platform to improve fermentation processes and genetic manipulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although activin receptor IIB (ACVR2B) is emerging as a novel pathogenic receptor, its ligand and assembled components (or assembly) are totally unknown in the context of osteoarthritis (OA) pathogenesis. The present results suggest that upregulation of ACVR2B and its assembly could affect osteoarthritic cartilage destruction. It is shown that the ACVR2B ligand, activin A, regulates catabolic factor expression through ACVR2B in OA development. Activin A Tg mice (Col2a1‐Inhba) exhibit enhanced cartilage destruction, whereas heterozygous activin A KO mice (Inhba+/−) show protection from cartilage destruction. In silico analysis suggests that the Activin A‐ACVR2B axis is involved in Nox4‐dependent ROS production. Activin A Tg:Nox4 KO (Col2a1‐Inhba:Nox4−/−) mice show inhibition of experimental OA pathogenesis. NOX4 directly binds to the C‐terminal binding site on ACVR2B‐ACVR1B and amplifies the pathogenic signal for cartilage destruction through SMAD2/3 signaling. Together, the findings reveal that the ACVR2B assembly, which comprises Activin A, ACVR2B, ACVR1B, Nox4, and AP‐1‐induced HIF‐2α, accelerates OA development. Furthermore, it is shown that shRNA‐mediated ACVR2B knockdown or trapping ligands of ACVR2B abrogate OA development by competitively disrupting the ACVR2B‐Activin A interaction. These results suggest that the ACVR2B assembly is required to amplify osteoarthritic cartilage destruction and could be a potential therapeutic target in efforts to treat OA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this review, we describe the genomic and physiological features of the yeast species predominantly isolated from Nuruk, a starter for traditional Korean rice wines, and Jang, a traditional Korean fermented soy product. Nuruk and Jang have several prevalent yeast species, including Saccharomycopsis fibuligera, Hyphopichia burtonii, and Debaryomyces hansenii complex, which belong to the CUG clade showing high osmotic tolerance. Comparative genomics revealed that the interspecies hybridization within yeast species for generating heterozygous diploid genomes occurs frequently as an evolutional strategy in the fermentation environment of Nuruk and Jang. Through gene inventory analysis based on the high-quality reference genome of S. fibuligera, new genes involved in cellulose degradation and volatile aroma biosynthesis and applicable to the production of novel valuable enzymes and chemicals can be discovered. The integrated genomic and transcriptomic analysis of Hyphopichia yeasts, which exhibit strong halotolerance, provides insights into the novel mechanisms of salt and osmo-stress tolerance for survival in fermentation environments with a low-water activity and high-concentration salts. In addition, Jang yeast isolates, such as D. hansenii, show probiotic potential for the industrial application of yeast species beyond fermentation starters to diverse human health sectors. Exploring the genomic and physiological features of yeast species in traditional Korean fermented foods provides insights into the discovery of biotechnologically useful genes, novel mechanisms of osmotolerance, and probiotic potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Because the bacterial phosphoenolpyruvate:carbohydrate phosphotransferase system (PTS) is involved in the regulation of various physiological processes in addition to carbohydrate transport, its expression is precisely regulated in response to the availability of PTS sugars. The PTS consists of enzyme I and histidine phosphocarrier protein, and several sugar‐specific enzymes II. In Escherichia coli, genes for enzymes II specific for glucose and related sugars are co‐regulated by the global repressor Mlc, and glucose induction of the Mlc regulon genes is achieved by its interaction with glucose‐specific enzyme II (EIIGlc). In this study, we revealed that, in Vibrio species, which are phylogenetically older than Enterobacteriaceae, the membrane sequestration of Mlc and thereby the induction of its regulon genes is mediated by N‐acetylglucosamine (NAG)‐specific EII. While Vibrio Mlc interacts only with the EIIB domain of EIINag, E. coli Mlc interacts with the EIIB domain of both EIIGlc and EIINag. The present data suggest that EIINag may be the primordial regulator of Mlc, and EIIGlc has evolved to interact with Mlc since an EIIA domain was fused to EIINag in Enterobacteriaceae. Our findings provide insight into the coevolutionary dynamics between a transcription factor and its cognate regulator according to long‐term resource availability in the bacterial natural habitat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eukaryotic genome sequencing and de novo assembly, once the exclusive domain of well-funded international consortia, have become increasingly affordable, thus fitting the budgets of individual research groups. Third-generation long-read DNA sequencing technologies are increasingly used, providing extensive genomic toolkits that were once reserved for a few select model organisms. Generating high-quality genome assemblies and annotations for many aquatic species still presents significant challenges due to their large genome sizes, complexity, and high chromosome numbers. Indeed, selecting the most appropriate sequencing and software platforms and annotation pipelines for a new genome project can be daunting because tools often only work in limited contexts. In genomics, generating a high-quality genome assembly/annotation has become an indispensable tool for better understanding the biology of any species. Herein, we state 12 steps to help researchers get started in genome projects by presenting guidelines that are broadly applicable (to any species), sustainable over time, and cover all aspects of genome assembly and annotation projects from start to finish. We review some commonly used approaches, including practical methods to extract high-quality DNA and choices for the best sequencing platforms and library preparations. In addition, we discuss the range of potential bioinformatics pipelines, including structural and functional annotations (e.g., transposable elements and repetitive sequences). This paper also includes information on how to build a wide community for a genome project, the importance of data management, and how to make the data and results Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable (FAIR) by submitting them to a public repository and sharing them with the research community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fermented soybean products are gaining attention in the food industry owing to their nutritive value and health benefits. In this study, we performed genomic analysis and physiological characterization of two Debaryomyces spp. yeast isolates obtained from a Korean traditional fermented soy sauce "ganjang". Both Debaryomyces hansenii ganjang isolates KD2 and C11 showed halotolerance to concentrations of up to 15% NaCl and improved growth in the presence of salt. Ploidy and whole-genome sequencing analyses indicated that the KD2 genome is haploid, whereas the C11 genome is heterozygous diploid with two distinctive subgenomes. Interestingly, phylogenetic analysis using intron sequences indicated that the C11 strain was generated via hybridization between D. hansenii and D. tyrocola ancestor strains. The D. hansenii KD2 and D. hansenii- hybrid C11 produced various volatile flavor compounds associated with butter, caramel, cheese, and fruits, and showed high bioconversion activity from ferulic acid to 4-vinylguaiacol, a characteristic flavor compound of soybean products. Both KD2 and C11 exhibited viability in the presence of bile salts and at low pH and showed immunomodulatory activity to induce high levels of the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10. The safety of the yeast isolates was confirmed by analyzing virulence and acute oral toxicity. Together, the D. hansenii ganjang isolates possess physiological properties beneficial for improving the flavor and nutritional value of fermented products. • Halotolerant Debaryomyces spp. strains were isolated from Korean soy sauce. • The D. hansenii isolates show distinctive genome features and flavour profiles. • Immunomodulatory activity and safety of the D. hansenii isolates were evaluated. • The yeast isolates are beneficial for quality and function of fermented products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assembling fragmented whole-genomic information from the sequencing data is an inevitable process for further genome-wide research. However, it is intricate to select the appropriate assembly pipeline for unknown species because of the species-specific genomic properties. Therefore, our study focused on relatively more static proclivities of sequencing platforms and assembly algorithms than the fickle genome sequences. A total of 212 draft and polished de novo assemblies were constructed under the different sequencing platforms and assembly algorithms with the repetitive yeast genome. Our comprehensive data indicated that sequencing reads from Oxford Nanopore with R7.3 flow cells generated more continuous assemblies than those derived from the PacBio Sequel, although the homopolymer-based assembly errors and chimeric contigs exist. In addition, the comparison between two second-generation sequencing platforms showed that Illumina NovaSeq 6000 provides more accurate and continuous assembly in the second-generation-sequencing-first pipeline, but MGI DNBSEQ-T7 provides a cheap and accurate read in the polishing process. Furthermore, our insight into the relationship among the computational time, read length, and coverage depth provided clues to the optimal pipelines of yeast assembly., (© 2023 Jeon et al.)

The availability of recent state-of-the-art long-read sequencing technologies has significantly increased the ease and speed of producing high-quality plant genome assemblies. A wide variety of genome-related software tools are now available and they are typically benchmarked using microbial or model eukaryotic genomes such as Arabidopsis and rice. However, many plant species have much larger and more complex genomes than these, and the choice of tools, parameters, and/or strategies that can be used is not always obvious. Thus, we have compared the metrics of assemblies generated by various pipelines to discuss how assembly quality can be affected by two different assembly strategies. First, we focused on optimizing read preprocessing and assembler variables using eight different de novo assemblers on five different Pacific Biosciences long-read datasets of diploid and tetraploid species. Then, we examined a single scaffolding tool (quickmerge) that has been employed for the postprocessing step. We then merged the outputs from multiple assemblies to produce a higher quality consensus assembly. Then, we benchmarked the assemblies for completeness and accuracy (assembly metrics and BUSCO), computer memory, and CPU times. Two lightweight assemblers, Miniasm/Minimap/Racon and WTDBG, were deemed good for novice users because they involved smaller required learning curves and light computational resources. However, two heavyweight tools, CANU and Flye, should be the first choice when the goal is to achieve accurate and complete assemblies. Our results will provide valuable guidance in future plant genome projects and beyond.