Abstract
Many crops display differential geographic phenotypes and sensorial signatures, encapsulated by the concept of terroir. The drivers behind these differences remain elusive, and the potential contribution of microbes has been ignored until recently. Significant genetic differentiation between microbial communities and populations from different geographic locations has been demonstrated, but crucially it has not been shown whether this correlates with differential agricultural phenotypes or not. Using wine as a model system, we utilize the regionally genetically differentiated population of Saccharomyces cerevisiae in New Zealand and objectively demonstrate that these populations differentially affect wine phenotype, which is driven by a complex mix of chemicals. These findings reveal the importance of microbial populations for the regional identity of wine, and potentially extend to other important agricultural commodities. Moreover, this suggests that long-term implementation of methods maintaining differential biodiversity may have tangible economic imperatives as well as being desirable in terms of employing agricultural practices that increase responsible environmental stewardship.
Highlights
Many crops display differential geographic phenotypes and sensorial signatures, encapsulated by the concept of terroir
Many important crops that comprise the same or very similar genotypes display differential geographic phenotypes in terms of the physical and sensorial signatures of their produce: this is generally encapsulated by the concept of terroir[1]
Differential agricultural geographic phenotypes are thought to result from complex interactions between specific crop genotypes and local soils, topography, climate and agricultural practices, and these differential manifestations are commercially important as they add distinctiveness and value to products[10]
Summary
Many crops display differential geographic phenotypes and sensorial signatures, encapsulated by the concept of terroir. Wine has been made by humans since the dawn of civilization and is an important social and economic commodity It arguably displays the strongest geographic signatures of all agricultural products and is a superb model to evaluate the degree to which there might be a microbial aspect to terroir. The critical assumption here is that there is a positive correlation between microbial relatedness, and aroma profiles in wine: i.e. that closely related microbes and their communities produce closely related agricultural geographic signatures This has not been shown, but here we provide the first evidence for such a link. Since spontaneously fermented wine comprises a diversity of yeast species and strains of S. cerevisiae, metabolic interactions between these different types may potentially be the key to any microbial signature contributing to terroir. As a first step towards understanding the impact microbes have on the regional distinctiveness of wine, we focus on the dominant species driving fermentation: S. cerevisiae
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