Mitochondrial NADH dehydrogenase activity and ability to tolerate acetaldehyde determine faster ethanol production in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

In rapidly fermenting yeast, the rotenone insensitive mitochondrial NADH dehydrogenase was not completely repressed by high glucose. This activity appeared to enhance the glycolytic rate due to which acetaldehyde accumulated intracellularly. To overcome the toxicity of acetaldehyde, the strain produced stress proteins. During late stationary phase of growth, the accumulated acetaldehyde was converted to ethanol resulting in faster ethanol production.