title: Genetic engineering of brewing yeast to reduce the content of ethanol in beer.
abstract: The GPD1 gene encoding the glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase was overexpressed in an industrial lager brewing yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae ssp. carlsbergensis) to reduce the content of ethanol in beer. The amount of glycerol produced by the GPD1-overexpressing yeast in fermentation experiments simulating brewing conditions was increased 5.6 times and ethanol was decreased by 18% when compared to the wild-type. Overexpression of GPD1 does not affect the consumption of wort sugars. Only minor changes in the concentration of higher alcohols, esters and fatty acids could be observed in beer produced by the GPD1-overexpressing brewing yeast. However, the concentrations of several other by-products, particularly acetoin, diacetyl and acetaldehyde, were considerably increased.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Biotechnologie, Fachgebiet Mikrobiologie und Genetik, Technische Universität Berlin, Seestrasse 13, Germany. e.nevoigt@lb.tu-berlin.de
authors.forename: Elke
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Nevoigt
authors.forename: Rita
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pilger
authors.forename: Edeltraud
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Mast-Gerlach
authors.forename: Ulrike
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Schmidt
authors.forename: Silke
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Freihammer
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Eschenbrenner
authors.forename: Leif
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Garbe
authors.forename: Ulf
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Stahl
mesh_terms: D001515:Beer / Q000382:microbiology*; D000431:Ethanol / Q000378:metabolism*; D005285:Fermentation; D015870:Gene Expression; D005818:Genetic Engineering; D005990:Glycerol / Q000378:metabolism*; D005993:Glycerolphosphate Dehydrogenase / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D000431:Ethanol; D005993:Glycerolphosphate Dehydrogenase; D005990:Glycerol