Differences in metabolism among Saccharomyces species and their hybrids during wine fermentation

This study aimed to investigate how parental genomes contribute to yeast hybrid metabolism using a metabolomic approach. Previous studies have explored central carbon and nitrogen metabolism in Saccharomyces species during wine fermentation, but this study analyses the metabolomes of Saccharomyces hybrids for the first time. We evaluated the oenological performance and intra- and extracellular metabolomes, and we compared the strains according to nutrient consumption and production of the main fermentative by-products. Surprisingly, no common pattern was observed for hybrid genome influence; each strain behaved differently during wine fermentation. However, this study suggests that the genome of the S. cerevisiae species may play a more relevant role in fermentative metabolism. Variations in biomass/nitrogen ratios were also noted, potentially linked to S. kudriavzevii and S. uvarum genome contributions. These results open up possibilities for further research using different "omics" approaches to comprehend better metabolic regulation in hybrid strains with genomes from different species.

AC-R was supported by a FPU contract from Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (ref. FPU18/02933). This project has received funding from the Spanish Government and EU ERDF-FEDER projects PID2021-126380OB-C31 and PID2021-126380OB-C33 to AQ and EB, respectively, and project PLCE2021-007827 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by the European Union NextGenerationEU/PRTR to AQ. Finally, IATA-CSIC received funding from the Spanish Government, ref. MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033, as a “Severo Ochoa” Center of Excellence (CEX2021-001189-S), with AQ as PI.

With funding from the Spanish government through the ‘Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence’ accreditation (CEX 2021-001189-S)

Peer reviewed