Abstract
During the fermentation of dough and the production of baker’s yeast, yeast cells are exposed to numerous
and multiple environmental stresses including freezing, air-drying, and high-sucrose, so-called
baking-associated stresses. In addition, such stress conditions could induce oxidative stress in yeast cells
with an increase in reactive oxygen species level due to the denaturation of proteins including antioxidant
enzymes and the severe damage to mitochondrial membrane or respiratory chain. To avoid lethal damage,
baker’s yeast cells need to acquire a variety of stress-tolerant mechanisms. For example, proline and arginine
are important amino acids involved in the stress tolerance of baker’s yeast. In fact, the engineering of proline
and arginine metabolism is a promising approach for the development of stress-tolerant baker’s yeast. We
believe that not only baker’s yeast but also other important industrial yeasts with higher tolerance to various
stresses could contribute to yeast-based industry for the effective production of bread doughs and alcoholic
beverages or the breakthrough of bioethanol production.
