Characterization of the metabolic shift of Saccharomyces bayanus var. uvarum by continuous aerobic culture

Audrey Serra (1) , Pierre Strehaiano (1) , Patricia Taillandier (1)

1 LGC - Laboratoire de Génie Chimique

Saccharomyces bayanus, being of interest for wine-making, is not as well known as S. cerevisiae and, due to many changes in the yeast classification, accurate data concerning its metabolic activity are difficult to find. In order to produce this yeast as an active dry yeast to be used as a starter in wine-making, its sensitivity to glucose was determined as the objective of our work. Using the pulse technique in continuous culture, it was found that growth in a synthetic medium was not limited by vitamins or mineral salts. We determined the critical dilution rate of a continuous culture and performed an aerobic continuous culture, measuring the respiratory quotient on-line in order to observe the metabolic shift from respiratory to fermentative metabolism. The S. bayanus var. uvarum strain studied was Crabtree-positive (glucose-sensitive) but had a weaker respiratory capacity than S. cerevisiae since the dilution rate of the metabolic shift was only 0.15 h^-1. These new data provide essential information for the biomass production of this yeast strain for wine-making.

Mots clés: Dilution rate; Biomass concentration; Respiratory quotient; Pyruvate decarboxylase; Respiratory metabolism

Domaines: Génie chimique; Génie des procédés

Audrey Serra, Pierre Strehaiano, Patricia Taillandier. Characterization of the metabolic shift of Saccharomyces bayanus var. uvarum by continuous aerobic culture. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, 2003, 62 (5-6), pp.564-568. ⟨10.1007/s00253-003-1288-5⟩. ⟨hal-02143262⟩