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Yeast 2.0 – Synthetic Genome Engineering Pioneers New Possibilities for Wine Yeast Research

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Yeasts in the Production of Wine

Abstract

Yeast research represents an important nexus between fundamental and applied research. Just as fundamental yeast research transitioned from classical, reductionist strategies to systems approaches, genetic engineering studies are advancing to the next level of biological research, referred to as synthetic genome engineering. Industries that rely on high-performing yeast, such as the wine industry, are therefore poised to reap the many benefits that synthetic biology can provide. This includes the promise of strain development by using DNA editing techniques and de novo genome synthesis studies. This chapter reviews the current international Synthetic Yeast Genome project (known as the Yeast 2.0 or Sc2.0 project) and concurrent advancements in biodesign tools and smart data-intensive technologies. As the Sc2.0 jigsaw puzzles are starting to fall into place, a clearer picture of a laboratory strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast with 16 man-made chromosomes is emerging. By building the world’s first eukaryotic genome, the findings and learnings of the Sc2.0 project inspired the construction of other industrially-important yeasts, including a wine yeast capable of producing raspberry-flavoured Chardonnay.

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Acknowledgements

I am grateful to Macquarie University, Bioplatforms Australia, the New South Wales (NSW) Chief Scientist and Engineer, and the NSW Government’s Department of Primary Industries for providing the start-up funds for the Synthetic Biology initiative at Macquarie University. I acknowledge the ongoing support from all members of the international Synthetic Yeast Genome Project (Sc2.0) consortium, and the research contributions of my team at Macquarie University: Drs Thomas Williams, Heinrich Kroukamp, Hugh Goold, Niël van Wyk, Natalie Curach and Ian Paulsen, and my collaborators at The Australian Wine Research Institute: Drs Anthony Borneman, Dariusz Kutyna and Daniel Johnson. Rae Blair and Tori Hocking are gratefully acknowledged for their editorial assistance, and Bronte Turner for the artwork. This chapter is a slightly re-worked version of an article published in 2017 in EMBO Reports 18 (11):1875-1884. Information is reproduced here with kind permission of the publisher, EMBO Press.

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The author declares that he has no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Chancellery, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Isak S. Pretorius

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  1. Isak S. Pretorius
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Correspondence to Isak S. Pretorius .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Basilicata, School of Agriculture, Forest, Food and Environmental Sciences, Potenza, Italy

    Patrizia Romano

  2. Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, Polytechnic University of Marche, Ancona, Italy

    Maurizio Ciani

  3. Food Science and Technology, University of New South Wales School of Chemical Engineering, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Graham H. Fleet

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Pretorius, I.S. (2019). Yeast 2.0 – Synthetic Genome Engineering Pioneers New Possibilities for Wine Yeast Research. In: Romano, P., Ciani, M., Fleet, G. (eds) Yeasts in the Production of Wine. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-9782-4_6

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