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Saccharomyces pastorianus : genomic insights inspiring innovation for industry
Author(s) -
Gibson Brian,
Liti Gianni
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
yeast
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.923
H-Index - 102
eISSN - 1097-0061
pISSN - 0749-503X
DOI - 10.1002/yea.3033
Subject(s) - biology , brewing , yeast , genome , saccharomyces cerevisiae , evolutionary biology , saccharomyces , microbiology and biotechnology , genetics , fermentation , gene , food science
A combination of biological and non‐biological factors has led to the interspecific hybrid yeast species Saccharomyces pastorianus becoming one of the world's most important industrial organisms. This yeast is used in the production of lager‐style beers, the fermentation of which requires very low temperatures compared to other industrial fermentation processes. This group of organisms has benefited from both the whole‐genome duplication in its ancestral lineage and the subsequent hybridization event between S. cerevisiae and S. eubayanus , resulting in strong fermentative ability. The hybrid has key traits, such as cold tolerance and good maltose‐ and maltotriose‐utilizing ability, inherited either from the parental species or originating from genetic interactions between the parent genomes. Instability in the nascent allopolyploid hybrid genome may have contributed to rapid evolution of the yeast to tolerate conditions prevalent in the brewing environment. The recent discovery of S. eubayanus has provided new insights into the evolutionary history of S. pastorianus and may offer new opportunities for generating novel industrially‐beneficial lager yeast strains. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.