Ecology and Evolutionary Biology as Frameworks to Study Wine Fermentations

Winemaking has leveraged microbiology to enhance wine quality, typically by engineering and inoculating individual yeast strains with desirable traits. However, yeast strains do not grow alone during wine fermentation, rather they are embedded in diverse and evolving microbial communities exhibiting...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Belda, Ignacio, Benítez-Domínguez, Belén, Izquierdo-Gea, Sergio, Vila, Jean, Ruiz, Javier
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2025
País:España
Institución:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Repositorio:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
OAI Identifier:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/390874
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10261/390874
https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/105000894769
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:food biotechnology
functional diversity
microbe
microbe interactions
microbial communities
microbial diversity
Descripción
Sumario:Winemaking has leveraged microbiology to enhance wine quality, typically by engineering and inoculating individual yeast strains with desirable traits. However, yeast strains do not grow alone during wine fermentation, rather they are embedded in diverse and evolving microbial communities exhibiting complex ecological dynamics. Understanding and predicting the interplay between the yeast community over the course of the species succession and the chemical matrix of wine can benefit from recognising that wine, like all microbial ecosystems, is subject to general ecological and evolutionary rules. In this piece, we outline how conceptual and methodological frameworks from community ecology and evolutionary biology can assist wine yeast researchers in improving wine fermentation processes by understanding the mechanisms governing population dynamics, predicting and engineering these important microcosms, and unlocking the genetic potential for wine strain development.