Abstract
The industrially important food-yeast
Candida utilis
is a Crabtree effect-negative yeast used to produce valuable chemicals and recombinant proteins. In the present study, we conducted whole genome sequencing and phylogenetic analysis of
C. utilis
, which showed that this yeast diverged long before the formation of the CUG and
Saccharomyces
/
Kluyveromyces
clades. In addition, we performed comparative genome and transcriptome analyses using next-generation sequencing, which resulted in the identification of genes important for characteristic phenotypes of
C. utilis
such as those involved in nitrate assimilation, in addition to the gene encoding the functional hexose transporter. We also found that an antisense transcript of the alcohol dehydrogenase gene, which
in silico
analysis did not predict to be a functional gene, was transcribed in the stationary-phase, suggesting a novel system of repression of ethanol production. These findings should facilitate the development of more sophisticated systems for the production of useful reagents using
C. utilis
.