Comparative genomics to unravel adaptive mechanisms in saccharomyces

Abstract

Saccharomyces genus is a fascinating model for evolutionary biology due to its high genetic and phenotypic diversity. The improvement in the sampling efforts during the last decade has resulted in the isolation of Saccharomyces species from a wide range of sources worldwide. S. cerevisiae is probably the most well known eukaryotic system and the dominant organism in most industrial fermentations. Due to the new challenges of the winemaking industry (e.g., global warming and changing customer demands), alternative Saccharomyces species have attracted researchers’ attention during the last decade as a poorly exploited resource of biodiversity. S. kudriavzevii and S. uvarum are two promising candidates because of their lower growth temperature, higher glycerol production and different aromatic profiles when compared to S. cerevisiae. However, the adaptive mechanisms of these species to their true ecological niches remain unexplored. In this thesis, we identified different molecular mechanisms involved in the adaptation of S. uvarum and S. kudriavzevii providing new insights into their evolutionary dynamics.