Abstract

Under N-limiting conditions, Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains display a substantial variability in their biomass yield from consumed nitrogen -in particular wine yeasts exhibit high growth abilities- that is correlated with their capacity to complete alcoholic fermentation, a trait of interest for fermented beverages industries. The aim of the present work was to assess the contribution of nitrogen availability to the strain-specific differences in the ability to efficiently use N-resource for growth and to identify the underlying mechanisms. We compared the profiles of assimilation of several nitrogen sources (mostly ammonium, glutamine, and arginine) for high and low biomass-producing strains in various conditions of nitrogen availability. We also analyzed the intracellular fate of nitrogen compounds. Strains clustered into two groups at initial nitrogen concentrations between 85 and 385 mg N.L−1: high biomass producers that included wine strains, were able to complete fermentation of 240 g.L−1 glucose and quickly consume nitrogen, in contrast to low biomass producers. The two classes of strains exhibited distinctive characteristics that contributed to their differential capacity to produce biomass. The contribution of each characteristic varied according to nitrogen availability. In high biomass producers, the high rate of ammonium uptake resulted in an important consumption of this preferred nitrogen source that promoted the growth of these yeasts when nitrogen was provided in excess. Both classes of yeast accumulated poor nitrogen sources, mostly arginine, in vacuoles during the first stages of growth. However, at end of the growth phase when nitrogen had become limiting, high biomass producers more efficiently used this vacuolar nitrogen fraction for protein synthesis and further biomass formation than low biomass producers. Overall, we demonstrate that the efficient management of the nitrogen resource, including efficient ammonium uptake and efficient use of the amino acids stored in vacuoles during the late stages of growth, might lead to high biomass production by wine yeasts.

Highlights

  • Under N-limiting conditions, Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains display a substantial variability in their biomass yield from consumed nitrogen -in particular wine yeasts exhibit high growth abilities- that is correlated with their capacity to complete alcoholic fermentation, a trait of interest for fermented beverages industries

  • The order of nitrogen sources consumption is similar amongst strains [17]; variations in biomass yield may result from differences in the rate of uptake of yeast assimilable nitrogen (YAN) as a whole, or in the ability of a strain to efficiently assimilate particular nitrogen compounds

  • To better understand the basis of the high growth capacity of wine yeasts during fermentation, we further investigate the variability between strains in their ability to efficiently use nitrogen for growth

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Summary

Introduction

Under N-limiting conditions, Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains display a substantial variability in their biomass yield from consumed nitrogen -in particular wine yeasts exhibit high growth abilities- that is correlated with their capacity to complete alcoholic fermentation, a trait of interest for fermented beverages industries. The amount of biomass that is produced is correlated with the initial nitrogen concentration of grape must, and this relationship value is strain-dependent, and nitrogen demands, defined as the amount of ammoniacal nitrogen necessary to maintain a constant rate of fermentation during the stationary phase and as the minimum quantity required to ensure the maximum population during growth, differ substantially between strains [13,14,15]. In line with these observations, a population of 72 S. cerevisiae strains originating from a wide range of habitats shows a substantial diversity in biomass yield from nitrogen consumed during alcoholic fermentation [16]. Transport into the vacuolar compartment depends on the nature of the nitrogen compound: a large fraction of basic amino acids is compartmentalized in vacuoles, whereas some amino acids, glutamate and aspartate, are found exclusively in the cytoplasm [20]

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