Diversity of Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains isolated of the spontaneous fermentation of cachaça from northeastern Brazil / Diversidade de linhagens de Saccharomyces cerevisiae isoladas de fermentações espontâneas de cachaça do nordeste Brasileiro

Cachaça is a beverage obtained by distilling fermented sugar cane juice. The state of Bahia in northeastern Brazil is the second-largest producer of traditional cachaça, and this region has the potential to improve the quality and quantity of its beverage production. The aim of this study was to analyze the genetic diversity of Saccharomyces cerevisiae populations isolated from must in six distilleries in Bahia using mitochondrial DNA restriction fragment length polymorphism (mtDNA-RFLP). Among the three hundred and thirty S. cerevisiae strains isolated, mtDNA-RFLP analysis identified a total of 30 molecular patterns. Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) revealed that the greatest genetic variation was found among, rather than within, the populations. Population structure analyses showed the presence of three distinct gene pools, thereby corroborating the AMOVA results. This study represents an important contribution to better understanding the molecular characterization and genetic variability of S. cerevisiae strains during the fermentation of cachaça. The dominant molecular patterns identified here may be used to select S. cerevisiae strains that could improve the quality and volume of traditional cachaça production in Bahia.