Influence of Saccharomyces cerevisiae Strains on General Composition and Sensorial Properties of White Wines Made from Vitis vinifera cv. Albariño

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

Influence of Saccharomyces cerevisiae Strains on General Composition and Sensorial Properties of White Wines Made from Vitis vinifera cv. Albariño

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

Soil composition and rootstock genotype drive the root associated microbial communities in young grapevines

Soil microbiota plays a significant role in plant development and health and appears to be a major component of certain forms of grapevine decline. A greenhouse experiment was conducted to study the impact of the microbiological quality of the soil and grapevine rootstock genotype on the root microbial community and development of young plants. Two rootstocks heterografted with the same scion were grown in two vineyard soils differing in microbial composition and activities. After 4 months, culture-dependent approaches and amplicon sequencing of bacterial 16S rRNA gene and fungal ITS were performed on roots, rhizosphere and bulk soil samples. The root mycorrhizal colonization and number of cultivable microorganisms in the rhizosphere compartment of both genotypes were clearly influenced by the soil status. The fungal diversity and richness were dependent on the soil status and the rootstock, whereas bacterial richness was affected by the genotype only. Fungal genera associated with grapevine diseases were more abundant in declining soil and related root samples. The rootstock affected the compartmentalization of microbial communities, underscoring its influence on microorganism selection. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) confirmed the presence of predominant root-associated bacteria. These results emphasized the importance of rootstock genotype and soil composition in shaping the microbiome of young vines

High intraspecific variation of the cell surface physico-chemical and bioadhesion properties in Brettanomyces bruxellensis

Brettanomyces bruxellensis is the most damaging spoilage yeast in the wine industry because of its negative impact on the wine organoleptic qualities. The strain persistence in cellars over several years associated with recurrent wine contamination suggest specific properties to persist and survive in the environment through bioadhesion phenomena. In this work, the physico-chemical surface properties, morphology and ability to adhere to stainless steel were studied both on synthetic medium and on wine. More than 50 strains representative of the genetic diversity of the species were considered. Microscopy techniques made it possible to highlight a high morphological diversity of the cells with the presence of pseudohyphae forms for some genetic groups. Analysis of the physico-chemical properties of the cell surface reveals contrasting behaviors: most of the strains display a negative surface charge and hydrophilic behavior while the Beer 1 genetic group has a hydrophobic behavior. All strains showed bioadhesion abilities on stainless steel after only 3 h with differences in the concentration of bioadhered cells ranging from 2.2 × 102 cell/cm2 to 7.6 × 106 cell/cm2. Finally, our results show high variability of the bioadhesion properties, the first step in the biofilm formation, according to the genetic group with the most marked bioadhesion capacity for the beer group. © 2023 The Author

Molecular and enological characterization of a natural Saccharomyces uvarum and Saccharomyces cerevisiae hybrid

Saccharomyces cerevisiae plays a main role in the winemaking process, although other species, like Saccharomyces uvarum or Saccharomyces paradoxus, have been associated with must fermentations. It has been reported in recent years, that yeast hybrids of different Saccharomyces species might be responsible for wine productions. Although S. cerevisiae × Saccharomyces kudriavzevii hybrids have been well studied, very little attention has been paid to S. cerevisiae × S. uvarum hybrids. In this work we characterized the genomic composition of S6U, a widely used commercial S. cerevisiae × S. uvarum yeast hybrid isolated in wine fermentations containing one copy of the genome of each parental species, which suggests a relatively recent hybridization event. We also studied its performance under diverse enological conditions. The results show enhanced performance under low temperature enological conditions, increased glycerol production, lower acetic acid production and increased production of interesting aroma compounds. We also examined the transcriptomic response of the S6U hybrid strain compared with the reference species under enological conditions. The results show that although the hybrid strain transcriptome is more similar to S. uvarum than to S. cerevisiae, it presents specifically regulated genes involved in stress response, lipids and amino acid metabolism. The enological performance and aroma profile of this S. cerevisiae × S. uvarum hybrid makes it a good candidate for participating in winemaking, especially at low temperatures

Fungal diversity during fermentation correlates with thiol concentrations in wine

Background and Aims: Agricultural products produced by the same genotypic clone often have different physical and sensorial properties, influencing their overall quality and economic value. Microbes play key roles throughout the production of these goods, affecting plant and fruit health and modifying plant materials to produce socially and economically important commodities. Following this idea, we investigated whether the fungal diversity in the pre-fermented grape juice, and also during fermentation, was correlated with the final concentration of three volatile thiols important to Sauvignon blanc aroma and flavour. Methods: we used metagenomics to quantify yeast populations and GC-MS to quantify thiols and analysed these using random forest statistical approaches. Results: The species of Saccharomyces yeast, the main driver of fermentation, was found to have a significant effect on the concentration of 4MMP in the final wine. Using next-generation sequencing technologies we also identified a number of non-Saccharomyces genera present early in the ferment that correlate with the thiol concentrations. Conclusion: These data suggest non-Saccharomyces fungi may be affecting the accumulation of odourless precursors in the grape itself via pathogenic effects during fruit ripening. Significance: This recapitulates the need for a better understanding of the interactions between microbial populations and agricultural products and has implications for the management of fungal diversity and disease in these systems

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

The use of mixed populations of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and S. kudriavzevii to reduce ethanol content in wine: limited aeration, inoculum proportions, and sequential inoculation

Saccharomyces cerevisiae is the most widespread microorganism responsible for wine alcoholic fermentation. Nevertheless, the wine industry is currently facing new challenges, some of them associate with climate change, which have a negative effect on ethanol content and wine quality. Numerous and varied strategies have been carried out to overcome these concerns. From a biotechnological point of view, the use of alternative non-Saccharomyces yeasts, yielding lower ethanol concentrations and sometimes giving rise to new and interesting aroma, is one of the trendiest approaches. However, S. cerevisiae usually outcompetes other Saccharomyces species due to its better adaptation to the fermentative environment. For this reason, we studied for the first time the use of a Saccharomyces kudriavzevii strain, CR85, for co-inoculations at increasing proportions and sequential inoculations, as well as the effect of aeration, to improve its fermentation performance in order to obtain wines with an ethanol yield reduction. An enhanced competitive performance of S. kudriavzevii CR85 was observed when it represented 90% of the cells present in the inoculum. Furthermore, airflow supply of 20 VVH to the fermentation synergistically improved CR85 endurance and, interestingly, a significant ethanol concentration reduction was achieved

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

Fungal communities are differentially affected by conventional and biodynamic agricultural management approaches in vineyard ecosystems

There is increased need to identify sustainable agricultural methods which avoid environmental degradation. Previous studies have focused on the effect of specific agricultural interventions on large organisms, but we have fewer data evaluating how microbes, which are key components of ecosystems, might be affected. Additionally, previous studies have been constrained as they only examined one habitat in an ecosystem and have not gone on to evaluate the effect of agricultural approach on harvested crops. Here we take an ecosystems approach and evaluate the net effect of conventional versus biodynamic management on agricultural ecosystems by quantifying fungal communities in multiple habitats using metagenomics. We go on to measure biodiversity in the crop and key chemical quality parameters in the product consumed by humans. We find that the method of management significantly affects communities in soil, on plant structures, and on the developing crop in subtle but importantly different ways in terms of number, type, and abundance of species. However, management approach has no effect on communities in the final harvested juice, nor on product traits aligned with quality. This shows that while management approach impacts different habitats in the environment in different ways, this does not automatically flow onto the harvested crop