Yeast toxicogenomics: lessons from a eukaryotic cell model and cell factory

Abstract

The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae remains a highly relevant experimental model in the field of toxicogenomics and is an important microbial cell factory for the production of added-value chemicals and biofuels. Its deep functional characterization coupled with the straightforward exploitation of Omic approaches and metabolic engineering, at the frontline of systems and synthetic biology, is instrumental to obtain mechanistic insights into the response to multiple toxicants and for the development of robust industrial strains. This critical review focuses on the current field, ranging from the identification of toxicological outcomes of exposure to environmental toxicants, with impact in risk assessment, bioremediation and plant biotechnology, to the improvement of biomass-based biorefinery processes, with applications in pharmacology and in the food and beverages industry.