Yeast is widely used in fermentation industry, and the major challenges in fermentation production system are high capital cost and low reaction rate. High cell-density culture is an effective method to increase the volumetric productivity of the fermentation process, thus making the fermentation process faster and more robust. During fermentation, yeast is subjected to various environmental stresses, including osmotic, ethanol, oxidation and heat stress. To cope with these stresses, yeast cells need appropriate adaptive responses to prevent stress-induced cell damage and to acquire stress tolerances. A single stimulus can trigger multiple effects, and general as well as specific stress responses are required for comprehensive cell protection. Since all these stresses disrupt protein structure, the upregulation of heat shock proteins and trehalose is induced upon when yeast cells are exposed to stress. Understanding the research status of HCDC of yeast and its response mechanism to various stress conditions will help to improve fermentation efficiency, formulate effective fermentation control strategies, and improving stress resistance and fermentation performance of yeast.