The term ‘sake yeast’ is generally used to indicate the Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains that possess characteristics distinct from others including the laboratory strain S288C and are well suited for sake brewery. Here, we report the draft whole-genome shotgun sequence of a commonly used diploid sake yeast strain, Kyokai no. 7 (K7). The assembled sequence of K7 was nearly identical to that of the S288C, except for several subtelomeric polymorphisms and two large inversions in K7. A survey of heterozygous bases between the homologous chromosomes revealed the presence of mosaic-like uneven distribution of heterozygosity in K7. The distribution patterns appeared to have resulted from repeated losses of heterozygosity in the ancestral lineage of K7. Analysis of genes revealed the presence of both K7-acquired and K7-lost genes, in addition to numerous others with segmentations and terminal discrepancies in comparison with those of S288C. The distribution of Ty element also largely differed in the two strains. Interestingly, two regions in chromosomes I and VII of S288C have apparently been replaced by Ty elements in K7. Sequence comparisons suggest that these gene conversions were caused by cDNA-mediated recombination of Ty elements. The present study advances our understanding of the functional and evolutionary genomics of the sake yeast.

To evaluate the taste of ordinary muscle from white-fleshed fish, we used GC-MS metabolomic analysis to characterise the compounds therein, and correlated the obtained data with taste measurements from an electronic tongue. Prediction models using orthogonal partial least squares were produced for different taste attributes, and the primary metabolic components correlated with the taste attributes were identified. Clear differences were observed in the component profiles for different fish species. Using an electronic tongue, differences in tastes were noted among the fish species in terms of sourness, acidic bitterness, umami and saltiness. The obtained correlations allowed the construction of good taste prediction models, especially for sourness, acidic bitterness and saltiness. Compounds such as phosphoric acid, lactic acid and creatinine were found to be highly correlated with some taste attributes. Phosphoric acid in particular showed the highest variable important for prediction (VIP) scores in many of the taste prediction models, and it is therefore a candidate marker to evaluate the tastes of white-fleshed fish.

No abstract

of samples steamed only once, except for 20:5n-3 of DM. Sensory evaluation showed that at days 3 and 7 of storage, the odor of reheated fish slices had deteriorated. Therefore, steamed yellowtail meat reheated after refrigerated storage of up to 3 days could be consumed without deterioration of its odor and nutritive value.

Yahatanishi -ku, Kitakyushu 807-5886)Thermal inactivation behaviors of a-glucosidase, glucoamylase, a-amylase and acid carboxypeptidase in fresh sake were investigated. Fresh sake was heated at 40C-65C for 2 min-30 min. In addition, the effects of alcohol and sugar concentration on the inactivation of enzymes were investigated by using synthetic fresh sake. All enzymes were completely inactivated by heating at 65C for 2 min. a-