Improvement of stress tolerance and leavening ability under multiple baking-associated stress conditions by overexpression of the SNR84 gene in bakerʹs yeast

During the bread-making process, industrial bakerʹs yeast cells are exposed to multiple baking-associated stresses, such as elevated high-temperature, high-sucrose and freeze–thaw stresses. There is a high demand for bakerʹs yeast strains that could withstand these stresses with high leavening ability. The SNR84 gene encodes H/ACA snoRNA (small nucleolar RNA), which is known to be involved in pseudouridylation of the large subunit rRNA. However, the function of the SNR84 gene in bakerʹs yeast coping with baking-associated stresses remains unclear. In this study, we explored the effect of SNR84 overexpression on bakerʹs yeast which was exposed to high-temperature, high-sucrose and freeze–thaw stresses. These results suggest that overexpression of the SNR84 gene conferred tolerance of bakerʹs yeast cells to high-temperature, high-sucrose and freeze–thaw stresses and enhanced their leavening ability in high-sucrose and freeze–thaw dough. These findings could provide a valuable insight for breeding of novel stress-resistant bakerʹs yeast strains that are useful for baking.