title: Occurrence of FFZ genes in yeasts and correlation with fructophilic behaviour.
abstract: Fructophily has been described in yeasts as the ability to utilize fructose preferentially when fructose and glucose are available in the environment. In Zygosaccharomyces bailii and Zygosaccharomyces rouxii, fructophilic behaviour has been associated with the presence of a particular type of high-capacity and low-affinity fructose transporters designated Ffz. In this study, a PCR screening was performed in several yeasts using degenerate primers suitable to detect FFZ-like genes. In parallel, fructophilic character was evaluated in the same strains by comparing the relative consumption rate of fructose and glucose. For all the strains in which FFZ-like genes were detected, fructophilic behaviour was observed (25 strains). Results show that FFZ genes are ubiquitous in the Zygosaccharomyces and Starmerella clades. Strains of Lachancea fermentati, Torulaspora microellipsoides and Zygotorulaspora florentina were not fructophilic and did not harbour FFZ genes. It is of note that these new species were recently removed by taxonomists from the Zygosaccharomyces clade, supporting the view that the presence of FFZ-like genes is a main characteristic of Zygosaccharomyces. Among the strains tested, only Hanseniaspora guilliermondii NCYC2380 was an exception, having a preference for fructose in medium with high sugar concentrations, despite no FFZ-like genes being detected in the screening. Furthermore, this study supports the previous idea of the emergence of a new family of hexose transporters (Ffz facilitators) distinct from the Sugar Porter family.
authors.affiliation: LEAF, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Universidade de Lisboa, 1349-017 Lisboa, Portugal.
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cabral
authors.affiliation: LEAF, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Universidade de Lisboa, 1349-017 Lisboa, Portugal.
authors.forename: Catarina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Prista
authors.affiliation: LEAF, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Universidade de Lisboa, 1349-017 Lisboa, Portugal.
authors.forename: Maria C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Loureiro-Dias
authors.affiliation: LEAF, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Universidade de Lisboa, 1349-017 Lisboa, Portugal.
authors.forename: Maria José
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Leandro
mesh_terms: D004271:DNA, Fungal / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D005632:Fructose / Q000378:metabolism*; D005820:Genetic Testing; D005947:Glucose / Q000378:metabolism; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009004:Monosaccharide Transport Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D004718:Saccharomycetales / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D004271:DNA, Fungal; D009004:Monosaccharide Transport Proteins; C098926:fructose permease; D005632:Fructose; D005947:Glucose