Bioconversion of lignocellulosic biomass to high-value bioproducts by fermentative microorganisms has drawn extensive attentions worldwide. Lignocellulosic biomass cannot be efficiently utilized by microorganisms, such as Saccharomyces cerevisiae, but has to be pretreated prior to fermentation. Aldehyde compounds, as the by-products generated in the pretreatment process of lignocellulosic biomass, are considered as the most important toxic inhibitors to S. cerevisiae cells for their growth and fermentation. Aldehyde group in the aldehyde inhibitors, including furan aldehydes, aliphatic aldehydes, and phenolic aldehydes, is identified as the toxic factor. It has been demonstrated that S. cerevisiae has the ability to in situ detoxify aldehydes to their corresponding less or non-toxic alcohols. This reductive reaction is catalyzed by the NAD(P)H-dependent aldehyde reductases. In recent years, detoxification of aldehyde inhibitors by S. cerevisiae has been extensively studied and a huge progress has been made. This mini-review summarizes the classifications and structural features of the characterized aldehyde reductases from S. cerevisiae, their catalytic abilities to exogenous and endogenous aldehydes and effects of metal ions, chemical protective additives, and salts on enzyme activities, subcellular localization of the aldehyde reductases and their possible roles in protection of the subcellular organelles, and transcriptional regulation of the aldehyde reductase genes by the key stress-response transcription factors. Cofactor preference of the aldehyde reductases and their molecular mechanisms and efficient supply pathways of cofactors, as well as biotechnological applications of the aldehyde reductases in the detoxification of aldehyde inhibitors derived from pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass, are also included or supplemented in this mini-review.
Keywords: Aldehyde reductase; Classification; Detoxification; Inhibitor; Localization; Saccharomyces cerevisiae; Transcriptional regulation.