Deletion of NTH1 and HSP12 increases the freeze–thaw resistance of baker’s yeast in bread dough

BACKGROUND: The intracellular molecule trehalose in Saccharomyces cerevisiae may have a major protective function under extreme environmental conditions. NTH1 is one gene which expresses trehalase to degrade trehalose. Small heat shock protein 12 (HSP12 expressed) plays a role in protecting membranes and enhancing freezing stress tolerance. RESULTS: An optimized S. cerevisiae CRISPR-Cpf1 genome-editing system was constructed. Multiplex genome editing using a single crRNA array was shown to be functional. NTH1 or/and HSP12 knockout in S. cerevisiae enhanced the freezing stress tolerance and improved the leavening ability after freezing and thawing. CONCLUSIONS: Deleting NTH1 in the combination with deleting HSP12 would strengthen the freezing tolerance and protect the cell viability from high rates of death in longer-term freezing. It provides valuable insights for breeding novel S. cerevisiae strains for the baking industry through a more precise, speedy, and economic genome-editing system.