Microbiological, biochemical, physicochemical surface properties and biofilm forming ability ofBrettanomyces bruxellensis

Abstract

Brettanomyces bruxellensis is a serious source of concern for winemakers. The production of volatile phenols by the yeast species confers to wine unpleasant sensory characteristics which are unacceptable by the consumers and inevitably provoke economic loss for the wine industry. This ubiquitous yeast is able to adapt to all winemaking steps and to withstand various environmental conditions. Moreover, the ability of B.bruxellensis to adhere and colonize inert materials can be the cause of the yeast persistence in the cellars and thus recurrent wine spoilage. We therefore investigated the surface properties, biofilm formation capacity and the factors which may affect the attachment of the yeast cells to surfaces with eight strains representative of the genetic diversity of the species. Our results show that the biofilm formation ability is strain-dependent and suggest a possible link between the physicochemical properties of the studied strains and their corresponding genetic group.

Brettanomyces bruxellensis: Overview of the genetic and phenotypic diversity of an anthropized yeast

“…Although only a limited number of strains were tested, the beer group showed robustness regarding biofilm formation in glucose-rich or glucose-limited media. For other genetic groups, production of biofilm was more dependent on environmental characteristics, suggesting different regulatory mechanisms (Dimopoulou, Renault, et al, 2019). These differences were also partly mirrored by the biochemical and physicochemical properties of the surface of the strains (Dimopoulou, Renault, et al, 2019).…”

“…Intraspecific diversity was observed in the ability to enter or exit the VBNC state (Capozzi et al, 2016;Longin et al, 2016) as well as to form pseudohyphae (Martyniak et al, 2017) or biofilm (Joseph et al, 2007). Recently, two concomitant studies (Dimopoulou, Renault, et al, 2019;Lebleux et al, 2020) have suggested that the ability to produce biofilms depends on the genetic groups. Although only a limited number of strains were tested, the beer group showed robustness regarding biofilm formation in glucose-rich or glucose-limited media.…”

“…For other genetic groups, production of biofilm was more dependent on environmental characteristics, suggesting different regulatory mechanisms (Dimopoulou, Renault, et al, 2019). These differences were also partly mirrored by the biochemical and physicochemical properties of the surface of the strains (Dimopoulou, Renault, et al, 2019). Finally, whether B. bruxellensis is actually able to sporulate and to undergo a sexual cycle remains a mystery.…”