Abstract
Saccharomyces cerevisiae is by far the most widely used yeast in oenology. However, during the last decade, several other yeasts species has been purposed for winemaking as they could positively impact wine quality. Some of these non-conventional yeasts (Torulaspora delbrueckii, Metschnikowia pulcherrima, Pichia kluyveri, Lachancea thermotolerans, etc.) are now proposed as starters culture for winemakers in mixed fermentation with S. cerevisiae, and several others are the subject of various studies (Hanseniaspora uvarum, Starmerella bacillaris, etc.). Along with their biotechnological use, the knowledge of these non-conventional yeasts greatly increased these last 10 years. The aim of this review is to describe the last updates and the current state-of-art of the genetics of non-conventional yeasts (including S. uvarum, T. delbrueckii, S. bacillaris, etc.). We describe how genomics and genetics tools provide new data into the population structure and biodiversity of non-conventional yeasts in winemaking environments. Future challenges will lie on the development of selection programs and/or genetic improvement of these non-conventional species. We discuss how genetics, genomics and the advances in next-generation sequencing will help the wine industry to develop the biotechnological use of non-conventional yeasts to improve the quality and differentiation of wines.
Highlights
Alcoholic fermentation is generally performed by Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast, the “conventional” wine yeast
The winemakers have the choice between hundreds of S. cerevisiae starters that have been selected for various characteristics including their ability to complete alcoholic fermentation in oenological conditions, their low release of off-flavor compounds, their positive impact on wine aromas, etc., (Pretorius, 2000; Marullo and Dubourdieu, 2010)
From an ecological viewpoint, the ensuing alcoholic fermentation is a rapidly fluctuating ecosystem: within a few days, grape must is depleted of nitrogen nutrients, while ethanol concentration and temperature increase steadily thanks to Saccharomyces spp. metabolism, conferring a fitness advantage for Saccharomyces spp. over the other wine yeasts (Goddard, 2008; Salvadó et al, 2011)
Summary
Alcoholic fermentation is generally performed by Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast, the “conventional” wine yeast. The wine industry currently proposes starters of a few nonconventional yeasts (Torulaspora delbrueckii, Metschnikowia pulcherrima, Pichia kluyveri, Lachancea thermotolerans, etc.), while several other species (Hanseniaspora uvarum, Starmerella bacillaris, etc.) are the subject of various studies to assess both positive contribution (Table 1) and negative impact (if any) on wine quality (Bely et al, 2013; Maturano et al, 2015). These non-conventional yeasts are widely distributed amongst the Saccharomycetales (Figure 1). The objective of this paper is to review the current state-of-art of the genetics of non-conventional wine yeasts and to discuss the future prospects and challenges from an oenological viewpoint
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