Introducing a new breed of wine yeast: interspecific hybridisation between a commercial Saccharomyces cerevisiae wine yeast and Saccharomyces mikatae

Interspecific hybrids are commonplace in agriculture and horticulture; bread wheat and grapefruit are but two examples. The benefits derived from interspecific hybridisation include the potential of generating advantageous transgressive phenotypes. This paper describes the generation of a new breed of wine yeast by interspecific hybridisation between a commercial Saccharomyces cerevisiae wine yeast strain and Saccharomyces mikatae, a species hitherto not associated with industrial fermentation environs. While commercially available wine yeast strains provide consistent and reliable fermentations, wines produced using single inocula are thought to lack the sensory complexity and rounded palate structure obtained from spontaneous fermentations. In contrast, interspecific yeast hybrids have the potential to deliver increased complexity to wine sensory properties and alternative wine styles through the formation of novel, and wider ranging, yeast volatile fermentation metabolite profiles, whilst maintaining the robustness of the wine yeast parent. Screening of newly generated hybrids from a cross between a S. cerevisiae wine yeast and S. mikatae (closely-related but ecologically distant members of the Saccharomyces sensu stricto clade), has identified progeny with robust fermentation properties and winemaking potential. Chemical analysis showed that, relative to the S. cerevisiae wine yeast parent, hybrids produced wines with different concentrations of volatile metabolites that are known to contribute to wine flavour and aroma, including flavour compounds associated with non-Saccharomyces species. The new S. cerevisiae x S. mikatae hybrids have the potential to produce complex wines akin to products of spontaneous fermentation while giving winemakers the safeguard of an inoculated ferment.Jennifer R. Bellon, Frank Schmid, Dimitra L. Capone, Barbara L. Dunn, Paul J. Chamber

Isolation, characterisation, and selection of wine yeast strains in Etyek-Buda wine district, Hungary

Initiated by the Association “Wine Route of Etyek Wine District”, the objectives of this study were to isolate and identify autochthonous yeast strains from local wines and to determine their oenologically important properties. The first aim of this work was to characterize the taxonomic and phenotypic diversity of the representative Saccharomyces yeast strains that dominate the spontaneous fermentations in this wine district. The results obtained by molecular ribotyping (ARDRA) revealed a strong dominance of S. cerevisiae, but S. bayanus var. uvarum was also present sporadically. Some of the natural isolates exhibited high volatile acid production or poor fermentation capacity, which imply a quality risk in spontaneous fermentations. Most of the isolates, however, displayed good oenological features during lab scale fermentations. As the second aim of this work, the most promising, selected strains were further tested for oenological properties in microvinification scale and, finally, in large scale fermentations. The analytical and sensory analysis proved that selected strains, including S. bayanus var. uvarum, can be used as local starter cultures, which may contribute to the typicality of the local wines in comparison with commercial starters

On the complexity of the Saccharomyces bayanus taxon: hybridization and potential hybrid speciation

Although the genus Saccharomyces has been thoroughly studied, some species in the genus has not yet been accurately resolved; an example is S. bayanus, a taxon that includes genetically diverse lineages of pure and hybrid strains. This diversity makes the assignation and classification of strains belonging to this species unclear and controversial. They have been subdivided by some authors into two varieties (bayanus and uvarum), which have been raised to the species level by others. In this work, we evaluate the complexity of 46 different strains included in the S. bayanus taxon by means of PCR-RFLP analysis and by sequencing of 34 gene regions and one mitochondrial gene. Using the sequence data, and based on the S. bayanus var. bayanus reference strain NBRC 1948, a hypothetical pure S. bayanus was reconstructed for these genes that showed alleles with similarity values lower than 97% with the S. bayanus var. uvarum strain CBS 7001, and of 99¿100% with the non S. cerevisiae portion in S. pastorianus Weihenstephan 34/70 and with the new species S. eubayanus. Among the S. bayanus strains under study, different levels of homozygosity, hybridization and introgression were found; however, no pure S. bayanus var. bayanus strain was identified. These S. bayanus hybrids can be classified into two types: homozygous (type I) and heterozygous hybrids (type II), indicating that they have been originated by different hybridization processes. Therefore, a putative evolutionary scenario involving two different hybridization events between a S. bayanus var. uvarum and unknown European S. eubayanus-like strains can be postulated to explain the genomic diversity observed in our S. bayanus var. bayanus strains

The Ascomycete Verticillium longisporum Is a Hybrid and a Plant Pathogen with an Expanded Host Range

Hybridization plays a central role in plant evolution, but its overall importance in fungi is unknown. New plant pathogens are thought to arise by hybridization between formerly separated fungal species. Evolution of hybrid plant pathogens from non-pathogenic ancestors in the fungal-like protist Phytophthora has been demonstrated, but in fungi, the most important group of plant pathogens, there are few well-characterized examples of hybrids. We focused our attention on the hybrid and plant pathogen Verticillium longisporum, the causal agent of the Verticillium wilt disease in crucifer crops. In order to address questions related to the evolutionary origin of V. longisporum, we used phylogenetic analyses of seven nuclear loci and a dataset of 203 isolates of V. longisporum, V. dahliae and related species. We confirmed that V. longisporum was diploid, and originated three different times, involving four different lineages and three different parental species. All hybrids shared a common parent, species A1, that hybridized respectively with species D1, V. dahliae lineage D2 and V. dahliae lineage D3, to give rise to three different lineages of V. longisporum. Species A1 and species D1 constituted as yet unknown taxa. Verticillium longisporum likely originated recently, as each V. longisporum lineage was genetically homogenous, and comprised species A1 alleles that were identical across lineages

Hybridization and adaptive evolution of diverse Saccharomyces species for cellulosic biofuel production

Additional file 15. Summary of whole genome sequencing statistics

Effect of three Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains on the volatile composition of albariño wines

Must obtained from Vitis vinifera L. cv Albariño grapes was inoculated with three strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae (Asln1, Asln2 and Asln20) and fermented under identical conditions. Standard chemical analyses were carried out on the final wines and volatile compounds were analysed by gas chromatography. Statistical analysis of the data obtained by the latter technique showed that the wines produced differed depending on the yeast strain used. The formation of alcohols,esters and isoamyl acetate by Asln1, Asln2 and Asln20 differed significantly (P<0.05). The probability associated with the differences for isobutanol and isoamyl alcohol was 99.9%.Peer reviewe

Influence of Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains on general composition and sensorial properties of white wines made from Vitis vinifera cv. albariño

[EN] Yeast strains contribute to the oenological and sensorial characteristics of the wines they produce. The present study was performed to determine the influence of Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains on the composition and sensorial properties of Albariño wine. The must obtained from Albariño grapes was inoculated with 12 different yeast strains isolated from a single winery in Galicia, Spain. Chemical and sensorial analyses were performed on the final wines, which differed depending on the yeast strain used.[HR]Sojevi kvasca pridonose enolo{kim i senzorskim svojstvima vina. Istra`ivanje je provedeno da bi se odredio utjecaj sojeva S. cerevisiae na sastav i senzorska svojstva vina Albariño. Mo{t dobiven od gro`|a Albariño inokuliran je s 12 razli~itih sojeva kvasca izoliranih iz jedne {panjolske vinarije u Galiciji. Kemijska i senzorska analiza provedene su na dobivenim vinima, a rezultati su ovisili o upotrijebljenom soju kvasca.Peer Reviewe

Characterization of yeast strains from Rías Baixas (NW Spain) and their contribution to the fermentation of Albariño wine

The influence of different strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae on the fermentation and sensory characteristics of wine was studied. Five strains were isolated from fermenting musts in the Rías Baixas region (NW Spain), and characterized by pulsed field gel electrophoresis. Each strain was assessed for pectinolytic and killer activity as well as for flocculation capacity. The strains were then used to ferment Albariño must on a laboratory scale. The wines produced, which showed significantly different (P<0.001) physicochemical parameters, were evaluated for aromatic quality by sensorial analyses. The wine obtained using one of the strains was given the highest rating by wine tasters, as its aroma was the most typical of the Rías Baixas wines.Peer Reviewe