Polygenic Analysis of Tolerance to Carbon Dioxide Inhibition of Isoamyl Acetate “Banana” Flavor Production in Yeast Reveals MDS3 as Major Causative Gene

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  • Ben Souffriau
  • Holt, Sylvester
  • Arne Hagman
  • Stijn De Graeve
  • Philippe Malcorps
  • Maria R. Foulquié-Moreno
  • Johan M. Thevelein
The introduction in modern breweries of tall cylindroconical fermentors, replacing the traditional open fermentation vats, unexpectedly revealed strong inhibition of flavor production by the high CO2 pressure in the fermentors. We have screened our collection of Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains for strains displaying elevated tolerance to inhibition of flavor production by +0.65 bar CO2, using a laboratory scale CO2 pressurized fermentation system. We focused on the production of isoamyl acetate, a highly desirable flavor compound conferring fruity banana flavor in beer and other alcoholic beverages, from its precursor isoamyl alcohol (IAAc/Alc ratio). We selected the most tolerant Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain, saké yeast Kyokai no. 1, isolated a stable haploid segregant seg63 with the same high IAAc/Alc ratio under CO2 pressure, crossed seg63 with the unrelated inferior strain ER7A and phenotyped 185 haploid segregants, of which 28 displaying a high IAAc/Alc ratio were pooled. Mapping of Quantitative Trait Loci (QTLs) by whole-genome sequence analysis based on SNP variant frequency revealed two QTLs. In the major QTL, reciprocal hemizygosity analysis identified MDS3 as the causative mutant gene, a putative member of the TOR signaling pathway. The MDS3Seg.63 allele was dominant and contained a single causative point mutation, T2171C, resulting in the F274S substitution. Introduction of MDS3Seg.63 in an industrial tetraploid lager yeast with CRISPR/Cas9 enhanced isoamyl acetate production by 145% under CO2 pressure. This work shows the strong potential of polygenic analysis and targeted genetic modification for creation of cisgenic industrial brewer's yeast strains with specifically improved traits.
Original languageEnglish
JournalApplied and Environmental Microbiology
Volume88
Issue number18
Number of pages21
ISSN0099-2240
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2022
Externally publishedYes

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