Biotechnological and proteomic characterisation of yeast from natural environments

Abstract

The loss of biodiversity in the world has led to an increase in the number of studies that concern biological diversity, principally of plant and animal communities. Nevertheless, for microbial biodiversity there is still a lack of knowledge on certain environments, although organizations such as the World Data Centre for Microorganisms (WDCM), Microbial Resources Centre (MRC) in Europe and the Spanish Network of Microorganisms (REDESMI) are responsible for conserving, exploiting and adding value to microbial resources, mainly of importance in the agriculture and food fields. A knowledge of microbial biodiversity will allow the study and development of new biotechnological properties. In the case of yeasts, studies have focused on applications in the food industry and the production of recombinant proteins and new additives. Nevertheless, the current trend is to revalue these eukaryotes through their application in bioremediation, biocontrol or other novel applications. The isolation and genetical identification of wild yeasts from different environments will allow the identification and characterisation of new individuals with desirable properties for industrial use. For this purpose, techniques such as molecular analysis (PCR-RFLP, PCR-RAPD and sequencing), electroanalytical techniques, HPLC-QToF and Gas Chromatography are employed. Yeast proteomics provide a dynamic image of expressed proteins under certain specific environmental conditions. The systematic study and comparison of the proteome in different metabolic situations allows the identification of the proteins whose presence, absence or alteration correlates with a certain physiological stage.