Advances in the 2-phenylethanol tolerance of yeast

Abstract:

2-phenylethanol (2-PE) is a rose-scented aromatic alcohol commonly used in the food, cosmetic, and pharmaceutical industries. The physical and chemical production methods of 2-PE are not suitable for industrial application due to the low yields. As a single-celled eukaryotic microorganism, yeast has the potential to efficiently synthesize natural 2-PE. Therefore, the strategy of using yeast as a chassis microorganism to synthesize 2-PE is favored by researchers. However, during the fermentation for 2-PE production, the yeast is inevitably affected by the toxic effects of 2-PE. Therefore, there is an urgent need to investigate the mechanisms of yeast tolerance to 2-PE, which will provide a theoretical basis for production practice and help to select yeast strains with high tolerance to 2-PE. In this paper, we review the research advances in 2-PE tolerance of yeast from the synthetic pathways of 2-PE and yeast tolerance mechanisms and introduce the methods for improving the 2-PE tolerance of yeast. Deciphering the mechanism of yeast tolerance to 2-PE for improving the yield and conversion efficiency of 2-PE in yeast is a top priority for the future research.