Copper irons are widely applied in vineyards as pesticides (commonly referred to as Bordeaux mixture). However, excess copper is toxic to cells and to human health. Organisms have developed sophisticated molecular mechanisms in response to copper stress. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, transcription factor Ace1 is activated and regulates CUP1, CRS5, and SOD1 in response to copper stress. Hyperoside (HYP) is mainly used in clinical treatment and healthcare products due to its ability to reduce intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS). In this work, HYP, when compared with a conventional control, dramatically improved the growth of S. cerevisiae cells in copper stress, even in CUP1 and SOD1 mutant cells, by significantly decreasing the levels of ROS. Furthermore, expression of CUP1, CRS5, and SOD1 was significantly reduced under copper stress with HYP. These results illustrate that HYP effectively improves the growth of S. cerevisiae cells under copper stress.
