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DOI: 10.4121/3fa366a0-20bd-4d7e-9243-78959527fb07

Jean-Marc Daran; van den Broek, Marcel; Spaans, Maartje (2025): Data underlying the study on Diversity of α-acetolactate decarboxylase in the Saccharomycotina yeast subphylum: From discovery to brewing application. . Version 1. 4TU.ResearchData. dataset. https://doi.org/10.4121/3fa366a0-20bd-4d7e-9243-78959527fb07.v1

Categories

• Microbiology
• Genetics
• Physiology
• Biological Sciences

Keywords

Diacetyl Dipodascus fermentation Lager beer brewing lagering Lipomyces maturation period Off-flavour oxidative decarboxylation Saccharomyces pastorianus Wickerhamiella α-acetolactate

Licence

CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Interoperability

• RO-Crate Metadata

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by Jean-Marc Daran , Marcel van den Broek, Maartje Spaans

Diacetyl, a vicinal diketone with a low sensory threshold, is a prominent off-flavour in beer, necessitating extended lagering to allow its reduction to non-flavour-active compounds. In brewing, bacterial α-acetolactate decarboxylases are commonly used to mitigate diacetyl formation by converting its precursor, α-acetolactate, directly into acetoin. Here, we report the first discovery and characterization of functional α-acetolactate decarboxylases enzymes of eukaryotic origin, specifically from yeasts within the Saccharomycotina subphylum. Using a homology-based search against fungal genomic databases, 29 candidate genes were identified across 18 yeast species from only three genera (Lipomyces, Dipodascus and Wickerhamiella) and classified into distinct phylogenetic groups. Phylogenetic analysis revealed both fungal and possible bacterial origins, suggesting evolutionary conservation and horizontal gene transfer events. Seven genes were heterologously expressed in Saccharomyces pastorianus lager brewing strains. Fermentation trials in both lab-scale septum flasks and E.B.C. tall tubes demonstrated that yeast-derived α-acetolactate decarboxylases significantly reduced diacetyl levels, with some performing comparably or superior to the benchmark Brevibacillus brevis enzyme. These strains also showed normal fermentation kinetics and produced beers with diacetyl concentrations below sensory thresholds, effectively eliminating the need for extended lagering. Our findings uncover a previously unrecognized enzymatic activity in budding yeasts and present yeast α-acetolactate decarboxylases as promising non-bacterial alternatives to improve process efficiency and sustainability in lager beer production.

History

• 2025-07-14 first online, published, posted

Publisher

4TU.ResearchData

Format

dataset underlying figures *.csv and *.xlsx

Funding

• AcceLerate BrEwing yeast DevelOpment (ALBEyDO) (grant code Project ALBEyDO #PPS2204) Top consortia for Knowledge and Innovation (TKIs) AgriFood

Organizations

TU Delft, Faculty of Applied Sciences, Department of Biotechnology, Section of Industrial Microbiology