1.0 Introduction And Literature Review
1.1 Introduction
Yeasts are continuously exposed to a series of changes in the environment within their natural habitat. These changes may occur suddenly or may take place over an extended period of time and they can contribute a single specific change or combination of changes. These changes may be in form or physical, chemical or biological and can always represent stresses to a cell. These stresses will require specific response mechanism in order to protect and adapt the cell to the new conditions. Such conditions are generally referred to as stress conditions and the adaptation mechanisms they evolve as stress responses (Hohman and Mager, 2003).
Environmental parameters change ceaselessly and thus force most of the microorganisms to adapt to mildly stressful conditions. The organisms adapt to these changes in the following ways physiological, genetic and epigenetic adaptations. These adaptive measures lead to phenotypic modification which makes the organism to survive. The stress parameters include changes in temperature, pH, osmotic pressure, concentration of waste, ions, and sugars as well as exposure to extremes of radiation, toxic chemicals, oxidative conditions and nutrient starvation (Hohman and Mager, 2003).
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