Impact of yeast systems biology on industrial biotechnology

Systems biology is yet an emerging discipline that aims to quantitatively describe and predict the functioning of a biological system. This nascent discipline relies on the recent advances in the analytical technology (such as DNA microarrays, mass spectromety, etc.) to quantify cellular characteristics (such as gene expression, protein and metabolite abundance, etc.) and computational methods to integrate information from these measurements. The model eukaryote, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, has played a pivotal role in the development of many of these analytical and computational methods and consequently is the biological system of choice for testing new hypotheses. The knowledge gained from such studies in S. cerevisiae is proving to be extremely useful in designing metabolism that is targeted to specific industrial applications. As a result, the portfolio of products that are being produced using this yeast is expanding rapidly. We review the recent developments in yeast systems biology and how they relate to industrial biotechnology.