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Phylogeography of the wild Lager‐brewing ancestor ( Saccharomyces eubayanus ) in Patagonia
Author(s) -
Eizaguirre Juan I.,
Peris David,
Rodríguez María E.,
Lopes Christian A.,
De Los Ríos Patricio,
Hittinger Chris Todd,
Libkind Diego
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
environmental microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.954
H-Index - 188
eISSN - 1462-2920
pISSN - 1462-2912
DOI - 10.1111/1462-2920.14375
Subject(s) - biology , phylogeography , brewing , population , phylogenetics , fermentation , genetics , gene , demography , food science , sociology
Summary Saccharomyces eubayanus is the close relative of the Lager‐brewing yeast and was firstly found in North Patagonia associated with Nothofagus trees. In recent years additional strains were found in North America, Asia and New Zealand, and genomic analyses showed the existence of two main populations of this yeast, both of them present in Patagonia. Here, we performed the most comprehensive study of S. eubayanus in Patagonia natural environments (400 samples) and confirmed that this region has the highest isolation success rate for this species described worldwide (more than 10‐fold). The genetic characterization of 200 isolates ( COX2 , DCR1 , intFR ) revealed five geographically structured subpopulations. We hypothesized that marine ingressions and glaciations, which shaped the Patagonian landscape, contributed on population differentiation. The first large screening of fermentation performance of 60 wild S. eubayanus strains indicated which subpopulations would be more suitable for beer production.