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Title: The genome of wine yeast Dekkera bruxellensis provides a tool to explore its food-related properties

Journal Article · · International Journal of Food Microbiology

The yeast Dekkera/Brettanomyces bruxellensis can cause enormous economic losses in wine industry due to production of phenolic off-flavor compounds. D. bruxellensis is a distant relative of baker's yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Nevertheless, these two yeasts are often found in the same habitats and share several food-related traits, such as production of high ethanol levels and ability to grow without oxygen. In some food products, like lambic beer, D. bruxellensis can importantly contribute to flavor development. We determined the 13.4 Mb genome sequence of the D. bruxellensis strain Y879 (CBS2499) and deduced the genetic background of several ?food-relevant? properties and evolutionary history of this yeast. Surprisingly, we find that this yeast is phylogenetically distant to other food-related yeasts and most related to Pichia (Komagataella) pastoris, which is an aerobic poor ethanol producer. We further show that the D. bruxellensis genome does not contain an excess of lineage specific duplicated genes nor a horizontally transferred URA1 gene, two crucial events that promoted the evolution of the food relevant traits in the S. cerevisiae lineage. However, D. bruxellensis has several independently duplicated ADH and ADH-like genes, which are likely responsible for metabolism of alcohols, including ethanol, and also a range of aromatic compounds.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC)
DOE Contract Number:
DE-AC02-05CH11231
OSTI ID:
1165276
Report Number(s):
LBNL-6767E
Journal Information:
International Journal of Food Microbiology, Vol. 157, Issue 2; Related Information: Journal Publication Date: July 2, 2012; ISSN 0168-1605
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English