Transcriptomic analysis of a NaCl-resistant Saccharomyces cerevisiae mutant obtained by evolutionary engineering

NaCl-resistant Saccharomyces cerevisiae mutant was obtained by evolutionary engineering. EMS mutagenized culture was used as the initial population for the selection procedure. Gradually increasing levels of NaCl stress was applied through 40 successive batch cultivations. The reference strain could not grow even at 0.85 M NaCl whereas this mutant was shown to be resistant up to 1.45 M NaCl concentration. Whole-genome microarray analysis was used to identify the NaCl resistance mechanisms by comparing NaCl-resistant mutant strain and the reference strain in the absence of NaCl stress. The reference Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain and the NaCl-resistant mutant were grown in minimal medium to an Optical Density (OD600) of 1.00 which corresponds to the logarithmic growth phase of the yeast cells. Cultures were harvested and whole RNA isolation was carried out. The experiment was repeated three times.