Abstract
The interest in Lachancea thermotolerans, a yeast species with unusual characteristics, has notably increased in all ecological, evolutionary, and industrial aspects. One of the key characteristics of L. thermotolerans is the production of high quantities of lactic acid compared to other yeast species. Its evolution has mainly been driven by the influence of the environment and domestication, allowing several metabolic traits to arise. The molecular regulation of the fermentative process in L. thermotolerans shows interesting routes that play a complementary or protective role against fermentative stresses. One route that is activated under this condition is involved in the production of lactic acid, presenting a complete system for its production, showing the involvement of several enzymes and transporters. In winemaking, the use of L. thermotolerans is nowadays mostly focused in early–medium-maturity grape varieties, in which over-ripening can produce wines lacking acidity and with high concentrations of ethanol. Recent studies have reported new positive influences on quality apart from lactic acid acidification, such as improvements in color, glutathione production, aroma, malic acid, polysaccharides, or specific enzymatic activities that constitute interesting new criteria for selecting better strains. This positive influence on winemaking has increased the availability of commercial strains during recent years, allowing comparisons among some of those products. Initially, the management of L. thermotolerans was thought to be combined with Saccaharomyces cerevisiae to properly end alcoholic fermentation, but new studies are innovating and reporting combinations with other key enological microorganisms such as Schizosaccharomyces pombe, Oenocous oeni, Lactiplantibacillus plantarum, or other non-Saccharomyces.
Highlights
The interest in non-Saccharomyces applications in the wine industry during recent years has increased exponentially, and the number of scientific publications regarding the main species has increased [1]
All genes related to the phenylalanine metabolism and phenylethanol are upregulated, which is in agreement with previous studies regarding the compositional analysis of must, showing that under mixing conditions, the production of phenylethanol is increased compared to single fermentations using L. thermotolerans [2,19]
L. plantarum is an interesting option for combining with L. thermotolerans in grape juices that suffer from a lack of acidity and contain high initial concentrations of sugar that may originate from extended alcoholic fermentations longer than 21 days [20]
Summary
The interest in non-Saccharomyces applications in the wine industry during recent years has increased exponentially, and the number of scientific publications regarding the main species has increased [1]. Unique molecular patterns were found to be locally conserved; in each location, the profiles of the strains associated with a certain vineyard were clustered together This first study revealed the influence of the location on the species structure; further studies confirmed the influence of the location and of the ecological niche of the isolation [31]. Different isolates present the same clustering when studying the fermentative profile as previously obtained by microsatellites [31] Despite this differentiation, the general characteristics seem to be common in the species, regardless of origin, including the low fructophilic character, high fermentation ability, and the production of lactic acid without an increase in acetic acid. Other features indicate the distinct phenotypic performance and are extremely variable among strains, the production of volatile compounds being the most remarkable one
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