AUTHOR=Wang Hanyu , Li Qian , Peng Yuanyuan , Zhang Zhengyue , Kuang Xiaolin , Hu Xiangdong , Ayepa Ellen , Han Xuebing , Abrha Getachew Tafere , Xiang Quanju , Yu Xiumei , Zhao Ke , Zou Likou , Gu Yunfu , Li Xi , Li Xiaoying , Chen Qiang , Zhang Xiaoping , Liu Beidong , Ma Menggen TITLE=Cellular Analysis and Comparative Transcriptomics Reveal the Tolerance Mechanisms of Candida tropicalis Toward Phenol JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology VOLUME=11 YEAR=2020 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2020.00544 DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2020.00544 ISSN=1664-302X ABSTRACT=

Phenol is a ubiquitous pollutant and can contaminate natural water resources. Hence, the removal of phenol from wastewater is of significant importance. A series of biological methods were used to remove phenol based on the natural ability of microorganisms to degrade phenol, but the tolerance mechanism of phenol-degraded strains to phenol are not very clear. Morphological observation on Candida tropicalis showed that phenol caused the reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation, damaging the mitochondrial and the endoplasmic reticulum. On the basis of transcriptome data and cell wall susceptibility analysis, it was found that C. tropicalis prevented phenol-caused cell damage through improvement of cell wall resistance, maintenance of high-fidelity DNA replication, intracellular protein homeostasis, organelle integrity, and kept the intracellular phenol concentration at a low level through cell-wall remodeling and removal of excess phenol via MDR/MXR transporters. The knowledge obtained will promote the genetic modification of yeast strains in general to tolerate the high concentrations of phenol and improve their efficiency of phenol degradation.