Abstract: Carvacrol, a monoterpene phenolic compound found in many aromatic plants, has various biological activities such as antibacterial and antioxidant action. This paper selected Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the common spoilage fungus in fruit and vegetable products, as the target microorganism, and studied the physiological characteristics and transcriptome of S. cerevisiae under carvacrol stress. The minimum inhibitory concentration of carvacrol on S. cerevisiae was 160 g/mL. With the increase of treatment temperature (20~40℃), the inhibitory effect of carvacrol (160 g/mL) on yeast growth gradually increased; environmental pH (3~4.5) had no significant influence on the inhibitory effect of carvacrol; however, the addition of fructose significantly reduced the antifungal activity. The carvacrol stress induced the damage on the structure of cell envelope, the increase in the plasma membrane permeability, the membrane depolarization, and even the leakage of intracellular substances of S. cerevisiae. Carvacrol also led to the increase of intracellular Ca2+ level, the mitochondrial depolarization, and the decrease of intracellular ATP content. The transcriptomic analysis found that carvacrol stress inhibited the biosynthesis of mitochondrial respiratory chain complex, ATP synthase and mitochondrial ribosome (MR) proteins, which could block the electron transport in the respiratory chain and interfere with life activities related to MR.

Key words: carvacrol, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, physiological characteristics, transcriptomic analysis, antimicrobial mechanism