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Genetic improvement of brewer’s yeast: current state, perspectives and limits

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Abstract

Brewer’s yeast strain optimisation may lead to a more efficient beer production process, better final quality or healthier beer. However, brewer’s yeast genetic improvement is very challenging, especially true when it comes to lager brewer’s yeast (Saccharomyces pastorianus) which contributes to 90% of the total beer market. This yeast is a genetic hybrid and allopolyploid. While early studies applying traditional genetic approaches encountered many problems, the development of rational metabolic engineering strategies successfully introduced many desired properties into brewer’s yeast. Recently, the first genome sequence of a lager brewer’s strain became available. This has opened the door for applying advanced omics technologies and facilitating inverse metabolic engineering strategies. The latter approach takes advantage of natural diversity and aims at identifying and transferring the crucial genetic information for an interesting phenotype. In this way, strains can be optimised by introducing “natural” mutations. However, even when it comes to self-cloned strains, severe concerns about genetically modified organisms used in the food and beverage industry are still a major hurdle for any commercialisation. Therefore, research efforts will aim at developing new sophisticated screening methods for the isolation of natural mutants with the desired properties which are based on the knowledge of genotype–phenotype linkage.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. VIB Lab for Systems Biology & CMPG Lab for Genetics and Genomics, KULeuven/University of Louvain, Bio-Incubator, Gaston Geenslaan 1, B-3001, Leuven, Belgium

    Sofie M. G. Saerens

  2. Laboratory of Molecular Cell Biology, Institute of Botany and Microbiology, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 31, 3001, Leuven-Heverlee, Belgium

    Sofie M. G. Saerens & Elke Nevoigt

  3. Department of Molecular Microbiology, VIB, Kasteelpark Arenberg 31, 3001, Leuven-Heverlee, Belgium

    Elke Nevoigt

  4. Department of Microbiology and Genetics, Berlin University of Technology, Seestr. 13, 13353, Berlin, Germany

    C. Thuy Duong

  5. School of Engineering and Science, Jacobs University gGmbH, Campus Ring 1, 28759, Bremen, Germany

    Elke Nevoigt

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  1. Sofie M. G. Saerens
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  2. C. Thuy Duong
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  3. Elke Nevoigt
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Correspondence to Elke Nevoigt.

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Saerens, S.M.G., Duong, C.T. & Nevoigt, E. Genetic improvement of brewer’s yeast: current state, perspectives and limits. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 86, 1195–1212 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-010-2486-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-010-2486-6

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