Study sheds light on behavior of yeast cells in the gut

A new study sheds light on the behavior of yeast cells in the gut, paving the way for new lines of yeast that more efficiently produce therapeutic drugs tailored to address specific diseases.

The researchers also found that genes in the yeast associated with the production of potentially pathogenic behavior were not activated while in the gut.

Lastly, gene activation of the yeast cells in the gut suggests that the gut is not a nutrient-rich environment for the yeast. Specifically, the yeast cells were digesting more lipids than carbohydrates.

"This is not entirely surprising, but it's important because if we want the yeast cells to essentially serve as factories that produce medicine on-site, then you need those cells to have energy to do their work efficiently. Our findings suggest it may be beneficial to modify the yeast cells so that they can make better use of the complex carbohydrates in the gut ecosystem.

The authors have filed patent applications and invention disclosures related to the engineering of probiotic yeast.

This work was done with support from the National Science Foundation, under grant 1934284; the Novo Nordisk Foundation, under grant NNF19SA0035474; and the National Institutes of Health, under grant 1DP2AT012795-01.

Source:

North Carolina State University

Journal reference:

Wang, G., et al. (2026). Transcriptomic responses of Saccharomyces boulardii to the germ-free mouse gut. BMC Genomics. DOI: 10.1186/s12864-026-12661-7. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12864-026-12661-7