Applied and Environmental Microbiology
Applied and Environmental Microbiology
5 years ago

Chromosomal aneuploidy improves brewing characteristics of sake yeast.

Sawada, Akao, Fujiyama, Agrimi, Taguchi, Anai, Terasawa, Kitagaki, Kadowaki, Ferdouse, Fujimaru, Kimura, Toyoda, Noguchi
The effect of chromosomal aneuploidy on the brewing characteristics in brewery yeasts has not been studied. Here, we report that chromosomal aneuploidy in sake brewery yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) leads to the development of favorable brewing characteristics. We found that pyruvate-underproducing sake yeast, which produces less off-flavor diacetyl, is aneuploid and trisomic for chromosomes XI and XIV. To confirm that this phenotype is due to aneuploidy, we obtained 45 haploids with various chromosomal additions and investigated their brewing profiles. A greater number of chromosomes correlated with a decrease in pyruvate production. Especially, sake yeast haploids with extra chromosomes in addition to chromosome XI produced less pyruvate than euploids. Mitochondria-related metabolites and intracellular oxygen species in chromosome XI aneuploids were higher than those in euploids and this effect was canceled in their petite strains, suggesting that an increase in chromosomes upregulated mitochondrial activity and decreased pyruvate levels. These findings suggested that an increase in chromosome number including that in chromosome XI, in sake yeast haploids leads to pyruvate underproduction through the augmentation of mitochondrial activity. This is the first report proposing that aneuploidy in brewery yeasts improves their brewing profile.Importance Chromosomal aneuploidy has not been evaluated in development of sake brewing yeast strains. This is the first study to show the relationship between chromosomal aneuploidy and brewing characteristics of brewery yeast strains. High concentrations of pyruvate during sake storage give rise to α-acetolactate and in turn to high diacetyl, which is considered an off-flavor. It was demonstrated that pyruvate-underproducing sake yeast is trisomic for chromosome XI and XIV. Furthermore, sake yeast haploids with extra chromosomes produced reduced levels of pyruvate and showed metabolic processes characteristic of increased mitochondrial activity. This novel discovery will enable the selection of favorable brewery yeasts by monitoring the copy numbers of specific chromosomes through a process that does not involve generation/use of genetically modified organisms.

Publisher URL: http://doi.org/10.1128/AEM.01620-17

DOI: 10.1128/AEM.01620-17

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