title: Large-scale selection and breeding to generate industrial yeasts with superior aroma production.
abstract: The concentrations and relative ratios of various aroma compounds produced by fermenting yeast cells are essential for the sensory quality of many fermented foods, including beer, bread, wine, and sake. Since the production of these aroma-active compounds varies highly among different yeast strains, careful selection of variants with optimal aromatic profiles is of crucial importance for a high-quality end product. This study evaluates the production of different aroma-active compounds in 301 different Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Saccharomyces paradoxus, and Saccharomyces pastorianus yeast strains. Our results show that the production of key aroma compounds like isoamyl acetate and ethyl acetate varies by an order of magnitude between natural yeasts, with the concentrations of some compounds showing significant positive correlation, whereas others vary independently. Targeted hybridization of some of the best aroma-producing strains yielded 46 intraspecific hybrids, of which some show a distinct heterosis (hybrid vigor) effect and produce up to 45% more isoamyl acetate than the best parental strains while retaining their overall fermentation performance. Together, our results demonstrate the potential of large-scale outbreeding to obtain superior industrial yeasts that are directly applicable for commercial use.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Genetics and Genomics, Centre of Microbial and Plant Genetics, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, and Laboratory for Systems Biology, VIB, Bio-Incubator, Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Steensels
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Genetics and Genomics, Centre of Microbial and Plant Genetics, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, and Laboratory for Systems Biology, VIB, Bio-Incubator, Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Esther
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Meersman
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Genetics and Genomics, Centre of Microbial and Plant Genetics, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, and Laboratory for Systems Biology, VIB, Bio-Incubator, Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Tim
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Snoek
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Genetics and Genomics, Centre of Microbial and Plant Genetics, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, and Laboratory for Systems Biology, VIB, Bio-Incubator, Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Veerle
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Saels
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Genetics and Genomics, Centre of Microbial and Plant Genetics, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, and Laboratory for Systems Biology, VIB, Bio-Incubator, Leuven, Belgium kevin.verstrepen@biw.vib-kuleuven.be.
authors.forename: Kevin J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Verstrepen
mesh_terms: D005285:Fermentation; D007218:Industrial Microbiology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D012440:Saccharomyces / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D055549:Volatile Organic Compounds / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism*; D014920:Wine / Q000032:analysis* / Q000382:microbiology
chemical_list: D055549:Volatile Organic Compounds