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The physiological characteristics of the yeast Dekkera bruxellensis in fully fermentative conditions with cell recycling and in mixed cultures with Saccharomyces cerevisiae

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Abstract

The yeast Dekkera bruxellensis plays an important role in industrial fermentation processes, either as a contaminant or as a fermenting yeast. In this study, an analysis has been conducted of the fermentation characteristics of several industrial D. bruxellensis strains collected from distilleries from the Southeast and Northeast of Brazil, compared with Saccharomyces cerevisiae. It was found that all the strains of D. bruxellensis showed a lower fermentative capacity as a result of inefficient sugar assimilation, especially sucrose, under anaerobiosis, which is called the Custer effect. In addition, most of the sugar consumed by D. bruxellensis seemed to be used for biomass production, as was observed by the increase of its cell population during the fermentation recycles. In mixed populations, the surplus of D. bruxellensis over S. cerevisiae population could not be attributed to organic acid production by the first yeast, as previously suggested. Moreover, both yeast species showed similar sensitivity to lactic and acetic acids and were equally resistant to ethanol, when added exogenously to the fermentation medium. Thus, the effects that lead to the employment of D. bruxellensis in an industrial process and its effects on the production of ethanol are multivariate. The difficulty of using this yeast for ethanol production is that it requires the elimination of the Custer effect to allow an increase in the assimilation of sugar under anaerobic conditions.

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Acknowledgments

The authors express their gratitude to Prof. Andreas Gombert, laboratory of Biochemistry Engineering at University of São Paulo, for the HPLC analysis, and the Brazilian funding agencies CNPq, FACEPE and FAPESP for sponsoring this study and providing financial support. This study is part of the activities being undertaken by the Bioethanol Research Network of the State of Pernambuco (CNPq-FACEPE/PRONEM).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Interdepartmental Research Group in Metabolic Engineering, Federal University of Pernambuco, Recife, PE, 50760-901, Brazil

    Luciana Filgueira Pereira & Marcos Antonio de Morais Jr.

  2. Departament of Genetics, Federal University of Pernambuco, Recife, PE, 50760-901, Brazil

    Marcos Antonio de Morais Jr.

  3. Center for Biological and Health Sciences, Catholic University of Pernambuco, Recife, PE, 50050-900, Brazil

    Bereneuza Tavares Ramos Valente Brasileiro

  4. Genetech Bioproductivity Ltd, Recife, PE, 50670-901, Brazil

    Adauto Gomes Barbosa Neto, Bereneuza Tavares Ramos Valente Brasileiro & Marcos Antonio de Morais Jr.

  5. Department of Agroindustrial Technology and Social-Rural Economy, Federal University of São Carlos, Araras, SP, 13600-970, Brazil

    Ana Paula Guarnieri Bassi, Simoni Helena Avansini & Sandra Regina Ceccato-Antonini

Authors
  1. Luciana Filgueira Pereira
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  2. Ana Paula Guarnieri Bassi
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  3. Simoni Helena Avansini
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  4. Adauto Gomes Barbosa Neto
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  5. Bereneuza Tavares Ramos Valente Brasileiro
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  6. Sandra Regina Ceccato-Antonini
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  7. Marcos Antonio de Morais Jr.
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Correspondence to Marcos Antonio de Morais Jr..

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Pereira, L.F., Bassi, A.P.G., Avansini, S.H. et al. The physiological characteristics of the yeast Dekkera bruxellensis in fully fermentative conditions with cell recycling and in mixed cultures with Saccharomyces cerevisiae . Antonie van Leeuwenhoek 101, 529–539 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10482-011-9662-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10482-011-9662-2

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