TY - JOUR

T1 - History and Domestication of Saccharomyces cerevisiae in Bread Baking

AU - Lahue, Caitlin

AU - Madden, Anne A.

AU - Dunn, Robert R.

AU - Smukowski Heil, Caiti

PY - 2020

Y1 - 2020

N2 - The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae has been instrumental in the fermentation of foods and beverages for millennia. In addition to fermentations like wine, beer, cider, sake, and bread, S. cerevisiae has been isolated from environments ranging from soil and trees, to human clinical isolates. Each of these environments has unique selection pressures that S. cerevisiae must adapt to. Bread dough, for example, requires S. cerevisiae to efficiently utilize the complex sugar maltose; tolerate osmotic stress due to the semi-solid state of dough, high salt, and high sugar content of some doughs; withstand various processing conditions, including freezing and drying; and produce desirable aromas and flavors. In this review, we explore the history of bread that gave rise to modern commercial baking yeast, and the genetic and genomic changes that accompanied this. We illustrate the genetic and phenotypic variation that has been documented in baking strains and wild strains, and how this variation might be used for baking strain improvement. While we continue to improve our understanding of how baking strains have adapted to bread dough, we conclude by highlighting some of the remaining open questions in the field.

AB - The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae has been instrumental in the fermentation of foods and beverages for millennia. In addition to fermentations like wine, beer, cider, sake, and bread, S. cerevisiae has been isolated from environments ranging from soil and trees, to human clinical isolates. Each of these environments has unique selection pressures that S. cerevisiae must adapt to. Bread dough, for example, requires S. cerevisiae to efficiently utilize the complex sugar maltose; tolerate osmotic stress due to the semi-solid state of dough, high salt, and high sugar content of some doughs; withstand various processing conditions, including freezing and drying; and produce desirable aromas and flavors. In this review, we explore the history of bread that gave rise to modern commercial baking yeast, and the genetic and genomic changes that accompanied this. We illustrate the genetic and phenotypic variation that has been documented in baking strains and wild strains, and how this variation might be used for baking strain improvement. While we continue to improve our understanding of how baking strains have adapted to bread dough, we conclude by highlighting some of the remaining open questions in the field.

KW - baking

KW - bread

KW - domestication

KW - industrial

KW - Saccharomyces cerevisiae (Baker’s yeast)

KW - yeast

U2 - 10.3389/fgene.2020.584718

DO - 10.3389/fgene.2020.584718

M3 - Review

C2 - 33262788

AN - SCOPUS:85096722660

VL - 11

SP - 1

EP - 15

JO - Frontiers in Genetics

JF - Frontiers in Genetics

SN - 1664-8021

M1 - 584718

ER -