A Mathematical Model for the Intracellular Accumulation of two Energy Reserve Carbohydrates in S. cerevisiae Cultures

This paper presents the development of a novel macroscopic model that predicts the dynamics of trehalose and glycogen in yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae fed-batch cultures. The model includes storage and mobilization reactions for each reserve carbohydrate and conversion of glycogen to trehalose. The proposed model is a purely macroscopic model, which relates the two carbohydrates only to the variation of the extracellular components without including complex intracellular phenomena. Its predictions are in agreement with the experimental data. The model can be used to optimize the accumulation of the two reserve carbohydrates, to obtain yeast cells that can withstand stressful conditions.