Correlations among measures of phenotypic and genetic variation within an oligotrophic asexual yeast, Candida sonorensis, collected from Opuntia

Adhesion Properties, Biofilm Forming Potential, and Susceptibility to Disinfectants of Contaminant Wine Yeasts

In this study, yeasts isolated from filter membranes used for the quality control of bottled wines were identified and tested for their resistance to some cleaning agents and potassium metabisulphite, adhesion to polystyrene and stainless-steel surfaces, and formation of a thin round biofilm, referred to as a MAT. A total of 40 strains were identified by rRNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS) restriction analysis and sequence analysis of D1/D2 domain of 26S rRNA gene. Strains belong to Pichia manshurica (12), Pichia kudriavzevii (9), Pichia membranifaciens (1), Candida sojae (6), Candida parapsilosis (3), Candida sonorensis (1), Lodderomyces elongisporus (2), Sporopachydermia lactativora (3), and Clavispora lusitaniae (3) species. Regarding the adhesion properties, differences were observed among species. Yeasts preferred planktonic state when tested on polystyrene plates. On stainless-steel supports, adhered cells reached values of about 6 log CFU/mL. MAT structures were formed only by yeasts belonging to the Pichia genus. Yeast species showed different resistance to sanitizers, with peracetic acid being the most effective and active at low concentrations, with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values ranging from 0.08% (v/v) to 1% (v/v). C. parapsilosis was the most sensible species. Data could be exploited to develop sustainable strategies to reduce wine contamination and establish tailored sanitizing procedures.

Production of L-lactic acid by the yeast Candida sonorensis expressing heterologous bacterial and fungal lactate dehydrogenases

BACKGROUND

Polylactic acid is a renewable raw material that is increasingly used in the manufacture of bioplastics, which offers a more sustainable alternative to materials derived from fossil resources. Both lactic acid bacteria and genetically engineered yeast have been implemented in commercial scale in biotechnological production of lactic acid. In the present work, genes encoding L-lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) of Lactobacillus helveticus, Bacillus megaterium and Rhizopus oryzae were expressed in a new host organism, the non-conventional yeast Candida sonorensis, with or without the competing ethanol fermentation pathway.

RESULTS

Each LDH strain produced substantial amounts of lactate, but the properties of the heterologous LDH affected the distribution of carbon between lactate and by-products significantly, which was reflected in extra-and intracellular metabolite concentrations. Under neutralizing conditions C. sonorensis expressing L. helveticus LDH accumulated lactate up to 92 g/l at a yield of 0.94 g/g glucose, free of ethanol, in minimal medium containing 5 g/l dry cell weight. In rich medium with a final pH of 3.8, 49 g/l lactate was produced. The fermentation pathway was modified in some of the strains studied by deleting either one or both of the pyruvate decarboxylase encoding genes, PDC1 and PDC2. The deletion of both PDC genes together abolished ethanol production and did not result in significantly reduced growth characteristic to Saccharomyces cerevisiae deleted of PDC1 and PDC5.

CONCLUSIONS

We developed an organism without previous record of genetic engineering to produce L-lactic acid to a high concentration, introducing a novel host for the production of an industrially important metabolite, and opening the way for exploiting C. sonorensis in additional biotechnological applications. Comparison of metabolite production, growth, and enzyme activities in a representative set of transformed strains expressing different LDH genes in the presence and absence of a functional ethanol pathway, at neutral and low pH, generated a comprehensive picture of lactic acid production in this yeast. The findings are applicable in generation other lactic acid producing yeast, thus providing a significant contribution to the field of biotechnical production of lactic acid.

Yeast communities in Sphagnum phyllosphere along the temperature-moisture ecocline in the boreal forest-swamp ecosystem and description of Candida sphagnicola sp. nov

The effects of the temperature-moisture factors on the phylloplane yeast communities inhabiting Sphagnum mosses were studied along the transition from a boreal forest to a swamp biotope at the Central Forest State Biosphere Reserve (Tver region, Russia). We tested the hypothesis that microclimatic parameters affect yeast community composition and structure even on a rather small spatial scale. Using a conventional plating technique we isolated and identified by molecular methods a total of 15 species of yeasts. Total yeast counts and species richness values did not depend on environmental factors, although yeast community composition and structure did. On average, Sphagnum in the swamp biotope supported a more evenly structured yeast community. Relative abundance of ascomycetous yeasts was significantly higher on swamp moss. Rhodotorula mucilaginosa dominated in the spruce forest and Cryptococcus magnus was more abundant in the swamp. Our study confirmed the low occurrence of tremellaceous yeasts in the Sphagnum phyllosphere. Of the few isolated ascomycetous yeast and yeast-like species, some were differentiated from hitherto known species in physiological tests and phylogenetic analyses. We describe one of them as Candida sphagnicola and designate KBP Y-3887(T) (=CBS 11774(T) = VKPM Y-3566(T) = MUCL 53590(T)) as the type strain. The new species was registered in MycoBank under MB 563443.

Pichia insulana sp. nov., a novel cactophilic yeast from the Caribbean

A novel species of ascomycetous yeast, Pichia insulana sp. nov., is described from necrotic tissue of columnar cacti on Caribbean islands. P. insulana is closely related to and phenotypically very similar to Pichia cactophila and Pichia pseudocactophila. There are few distinctions between these taxa besides spore type, host preference and locality. Sporogenous strains of P. insulana that produce asci with four hat-shaped spores have been found only on Curaçao, whereas there was no evidence of sporogenous P. cactophila from that island. In addition, sequences of the D1/D2 fragment of the large-subunit rDNA from 12 Curaçao strains showed consistent differences from the sequences of the type strains of P. cactophila and P. pseudocactophila. The type strain of P. insulana is TSU00-106.5(T) (=CBS 11169(T) =UCD-FST 09-160(T)).