Glutathione (g-glutamylcysteinylglycine, reduced
form GSH), the most ubiquitous low-molecular-weight
non-protein thiol compound, is widely distributed in
almost all the aerobic organisms [1]. GSH plays many
physiological functions in the cells, for instance, maintenance
of normal redox potential in the cells [2], radical
scavenger [3], detoxification of various cytotoxic compounds
[4], antioxidant [5], and so on. As GSH is widely
used in medicine, food and cosmetic industry, the
commercial demand for GSH has been expanding.
High concentrations of GSH has been found in some
species of yeast, of which Saccharomyces cerevisiae is
used for commercial fermentative production [6]. In
order to optimize the GSH production process, previous