title: Comparative study of Saccharomyces cerevisiae wine strains to identify potential marker genes correlated to desiccation stress tolerance.
abstract: The most diffused formulation of starter for winemaking is active dry yeast (ADY). ADYs production process is essentially characterized by air-drying stress, a combination of several stresses, including thermal, hyperosmotic and oxidative and cell capacity to counteract such multiple stresses will determine its survival. The molecular mechanisms underlying cell stress response to desiccation have been mostly studied in laboratory and commercial yeast strains, but a growing interest is currently developing for indigenous yeast strains which represent a valuable and alternative source of genetic and molecular biodiversity to be exploited. In this work, a comparative study of different Saccharomyces cerevisiae indigenous wine strains, previously selected for their technological traits, has been carried out to identify potentially relevant genes involved in desiccation stress tolerance. Cell viability was evaluated along desiccation treatment and gene expression was analyzed by real-time PCR before and during the stress. Our data show that the observed differences in individual strain sensitivity to desiccation stress could be associated to specific gene expression over time. In particular, either the basal or the stress-induced mRNA levels of certain genes, such as HSP12, SSA3, TPS1, TPS2, CTT1 and SOD1, result tightly correlated to the strain survival advantage. This study provides a reliable and sensitive method to predict desiccation stress tolerance of indigenous wine yeast strains which could be preliminary to biotechnological applications.
authors.affiliation: School of Agricultural, Forestry, Food and Environmental Sciences, University of Basilicata, Potenza 85100, Italy angela.capece@unibas.it.
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Capece
authors.affiliation: School of Agricultural, Forestry, Food and Environmental Sciences, University of Basilicata, Potenza 85100, Italy.
authors.forename: Sonia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Votta
authors.affiliation: National Research Council, Institute of Biomembranes and Bioenergetics, Bari 70126, Italy School of Agricultural, Forestry, Food and Environmental Sciences, University of Basilicata, Potenza 85100, Italy.
authors.forename: Nicoletta
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Guaragnella
authors.affiliation: School of Agricultural, Forestry, Food and Environmental Sciences, University of Basilicata, Potenza 85100, Italy.
authors.forename: Marianna
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zambuto
authors.affiliation: School of Agricultural, Forestry, Food and Environmental Sciences, University of Basilicata, Potenza 85100, Italy.
authors.forename: Rossana
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Romaniello
authors.affiliation: School of Agricultural, Forestry, Food and Environmental Sciences, University of Basilicata, Potenza 85100, Italy.
authors.forename: Patrizia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Romano
mesh_terms: D003890:Desiccation; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D050296:Microbial Viability; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000502:physiology*; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D013312:Stress, Physiological; D014920:Wine / Q000382:microbiology*
chemical_list: D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins
keywords: Real-Time PCR; Saccharomyces cerevisiae; cell viability; desiccation stress; gene expression; indigenous wine strains