Biodiversity of brewery yeast strains and their fermentative activities

Abstract

We investigated the genetic, biochemical, fermentative and physiological characteristics of brewery yeast strains and performed a hierarchical cluster analysis to evaluate their similarity. We used five different ale and lager yeast strains, originating from different European breweries and deposited at the National Collection of Yeast Cultures (UK). Ale and lager strains exhibited different genomic properties, but their assimilation profiles and pyruvate decarboxylase activities corresponded to their species classifications. The activity of another enzyme, succinate dehydrogenase, varied between different brewing strains. Our results confirmed that ATP and glycogen content, and the activity of the key metabolic enzymes succinate dehydrogenase and pyruvate decarboxylase, may be good general indicators of cell viability. However, the genetic properties, physiology and fermentation capacity of different brewery yeasts are unique to individual strains.

Comparison of DNA-based techniques for differentiation of production strains of ale and lager brewing yeast

“…Berlowska et al . () obtained the same results. The group of top fermenting strains was more diverse (over 72·6%) in comparison to the bottom fermenting ones.…”

“…Three bands in the region of the small-sized chromosome 220-365 kb are typical for the karyotype of S. cerevisiae (Naumov et al 2000a,b). According to our results and the study of Berlowska et al (2015) we suggest that this region is typical for S. pastorianus as well. The presence of this region in brewing strains could be a consequence of the hybrid nature of bottom fermenting yeasts (S. cerevisiae 9 S. eubayanus) that is now better characterized (Libkind et al 2011;Bing et al 2014;Hebly et al 2015).…”

“…According to our results and the study of Berlowska et al . () we suggest that this region is typical for S. pastorianus as well. The presence of this region in brewing strains could be a consequence of the hybrid nature of bottom fermenting yeasts ( S. cerevisiae × S. eubayanus ) that is now better characterized (Libkind et al .…”

“…For all S. pastorianus strains and S. bayanus, one band (sized 1400-1500 kb) was specific; this band was absent in all S. cerevisiae strains. Berlowska et al (2015) obtained the same results. The group of top fermenting strains was more diverse (over 72Á6%) in comparison to the bottom fermenting ones.…”

Bioprospecting for brewers: Exploiting natural diversity for naturally diverse beers

“…In particular, they had a unique capacity to ferment trehalose and to asimilate various carbon sources such as glucosamine, arabinose, melibiose, cellobiose, and starch (Vallejo et al, ). Melibiose and trehalose assimilation are not common characteristics of ale strains and could even be criteria for differentiation (Berlowska, Kregiel, & Rajkowska, ). A range of S. cerevisiae strains, genetically distinct from other brewing yeasts, and a S. cerevisiae × S. uvarum hybrid were recently isolated from traditional Norwegian farmhouse brewing yeast cultures, known as kveik (Krogerus, Preiss, et al, ; Preiss et al, ).…”