Reduction of off-flavour formation and improved α-oligoglucoside utilization enable use of Saccharomyces eubayanus as a novel lager brewing yeast
Abstract
Lager beer, made by fermentation of barley malt using the hybrid yeast Saccharomyces pastorianus, is extremely popular worldwide. The low genetic variation of S. pastorianus strains limits the scope of development for novel lager beer types. The wild ancestor Saccharomyces eubayanus has potential for use in lager brewing, but its application is constrained by formation of phenolic off-flavours (POF+ phenotype) and limited uptake of the wort α-oligoglucosides maltose and maltotriose. Here, we addressed both limitations, using screening and evolutionary engineering of the Himalayan S. eubayanus strain ABFM5L.1, one of the closest known relatives of S. eubayanus subgenome of modern hybrid lager yeasts. Prior to improving α-oligoglucoside utilisation, 4-vinylguaiacol formation was abolished by mutagenesis and screening for POF⁻ mutants. Subsequently, evolution for improved sugar utilisation and reverse engineering identified SeMALR1 (the S. eubayanus ortholog of S. cerevisiae MAL63) as a key regulatory control point. Single-nucleotide substitutions in this maltose regulon activator gene enabled rapid maltose uptake and partial maltotriose utilisation in a previously maltose-negative background. The evolved non-genetically modified POF⁻ strains showed near-complete maltose consumption (>90%–95%) and partial maltotriose consumption (∼25%–32%) in industrial wort. These results reveal substantial regulatory flexibility in Holarctic S. eubayanus and support its further development as a novel lager brewing yeast.
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BibTeX
@article{knibbe2026reduction,
title = {{Reduction of off-flavour formation and improved α-oligoglucoside utilization enable use of Saccharomyces eubayanus as a novel lager brewing yeast}},
author = {Ewout Knibbe and Ilja Westerlaken and Philip A de Groot and Jasper A Diderich and Susan M Zwijns and Thomas Perli and Jean-Marc G Daran},
journal = {FEMS Yeast Research},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1093/femsyr/foag055},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1093/femsyr/foag055},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Reduction of off-flavour formation and improved α-oligoglucoside utilization enable use of Saccharomyces eubayanus as a novel lager brewing yeast
AU - Ewout Knibbe
AU - Ilja Westerlaken
AU - Philip A de Groot
AU - Jasper A Diderich
AU - Susan M Zwijns
AU - Thomas Perli
AU - Jean-Marc G Daran
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/14
JO - FEMS Yeast Research
DO - 10.1093/femsyr/foag055
UR - https://doi.org/10.1093/femsyr/foag055
AB - Lager beer, made by fermentation of barley malt using the hybrid yeast Saccharomyces pastorianus, is extremely popular worldwide. The low genetic variation of S. pastorianus strains limits the scope of development for novel lager beer types. The wild ancestor Saccharomyces eubayanus has potential for use in lager brewing, but its application is constrained by formation of phenolic off-flavours (POF+ phenotype) and limited uptake of the wort α-oligoglucosides maltose and maltotriose. Here, we addressed both limitations, using screening and evolutionary engineering of the Himalayan S. eubayanus strain ABFM5L.1, one of the closest known relatives of S. eubayanus subgenome of modern hybrid lager yeasts. Prior to improving α-oligoglucoside utilisation, 4-vinylguaiacol formation was abolished by mutagenesis and screening for POF⁻ mutants. Subsequently, evolution for improved sugar utilisation and reverse engineering identified SeMALR1 (the S. eubayanus ortholog of S. cerevisiae MAL63) as a key regulatory control point. Single-nucleotide substitutions in this maltose regulon activator gene enabled rapid maltose uptake and partial maltotriose utilisation in a previously maltose-negative background. The evolved non-genetically modified POF⁻ strains showed near-complete maltose consumption (>90%–95%) and partial maltotriose consumption (∼25%–32%) in industrial wort. These results reveal substantial regulatory flexibility in Holarctic S. eubayanus and support its further development as a novel lager brewing yeast.
SN - 1567-1356
SN - 1567-1364
ER -