Preprint Article Version 1 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

Cell Surface Phenotypic Diversity and Flocculation Gene Variability in Contaminant Industrial Fuel-Ethanol Yeast Strains Exhibiting Highly Foaming Phenotypes

Catarina M. de Figueiredo
,
Daniella H. Hock
ORCID logo ,
Debora Trichez
,
Maria de Lurdes B. Magalhães
,
Mario L. Lopes
ORCID logo ,
Henrique V. de Amorim
,
Boris U. Stambuk
* ORCID logo
Version 1 : Received: 29 June 2021 / Approved: 30 June 2021 / Online: 30 June 2021 (08:59:57 CEST)

A peer-reviewed article of this Preprint also exists.

de Figueiredo, C.M.; Hock, D.H.; Trichez, D.; Magalhães, M.L.B.; Lopes, M.L.; de Amorim, H.V.; Stambuk, B.U. High Foam Phenotypic Diversity and Variability in Flocculant Gene Observed for Various Yeast Cell Surfaces Present as Industrial Contaminants. Fermentation 2021, 7, 127. de Figueiredo, C.M.; Hock, D.H.; Trichez, D.; Magalhães, M.L.B.; Lopes, M.L.; de Amorim, H.V.; Stambuk, B.U. High Foam Phenotypic Diversity and Variability in Flocculant Gene Observed for Various Yeast Cell Surfaces Present as Industrial Contaminants. Fermentation 2021, 7, 127.

Abstract

Many contaminant yeast strains able to survive inside fuel ethanol industrial vats show detrimental cell surface phenotypes, such as filamentation, invasive growth, flocculation, biofilm formation and excessive foam production. Previous studies have linked some of these phenotypes to the expression of FLO genes, and the presence of gene length polymorphisms causing the expansion of FLO gene size appears to result in stronger flocculation and biofilm formation phenotypes. We have performed here a molecular analysis of FLO1 and FLO11 gene polymorphisms present in contaminant strains of S. cerevisae from Brazilian fuel ethanol distilleries showing strong foaming phenotypes during fermentation. The size variability of these genes was correlated with cellular hydrophobicity, flocculation and highly foaming phenotypes in these yeast strains. Our results also show that deleting the major activator of FLO genes (the FLO8 gene) from the genome of a contaminant and highly foaming industrial strain avoids problematic foam formation, flocculation, invasive growth and biofilm production by the engineered (flo8∆::BleR / flo8Δ::kanMX) yeast strain. Thus, the characterization of highly foaming yeasts and the influence of FLO8 in this phenotype opens new perspectives for yeast strain engineering and optimization in the sugarcane fuel-ethanol industry.

Keywords

foam; flocculation; FLO genes; Saccharomyces; fuel-ethanol; FLO8

Subject

Engineering, Automotive Engineering

Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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