CORNUCOPIA

Yeast biodiversity as a source of innovations in food and health

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'Cornucopia will train a new generation of young scientists focusing on less studied yeasts with interesting traits, which could be applied in the food and health sectors. Yeasts are a divergent group of fungi that predominantly exist as unicellular organisms. The baker's yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is by far the best known because of its role in producing beverages, baking and recombinant drugs, such as insulin. S. cerevisiae is also the main model for the analysis of common features of all eukaryotic cells, and has been used in pioneering the development of several molecular biology, genomics and post-genomic tools. However, the yeast kingdom includes more than 1.500 other species that display a variety of unusual characteristics, and play an important role in their natural environments, but have so far been only poorly studied. These yeasts represent a large untapped potential to develop novel food and health related processes and products. We will make use of thousands strains available within Cornucopia to screen, using a variety of microbiological, analytical chemistry and bioinformatics techniques, for traits of interest to industry. such as ethanol-, acid- and osmo-tolerance, aromatic and off-flavor compounds and probiotic properties. Our young researchers will develop novel species-specific molecular, genetic and post-genomic tools to find out which genes determine the superior traits. They will “domesticate” new isolates so that they can be easily handled in the lab, and develop scale-up cultivations for applied purposes. We will benefit from yeast biodiversity and open new avenues within fundamental and applied research. Cornucopia, consists of seven leading yeast academic laboratories and three leading European industry partners, will provide a unique environment to develop strong academia and industry oriented careers, in-depth training in major experimental technologies used in yeast research and the industrial application of innovative ideas.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

Young researchers are being trained as part of an EU-funded initiative to investigate yeast biodiversity, a previously under-explored field of research. Their findings will be applied to the food and health sectors.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

Conventional yeasts such as Saccharomyces cerevisiae have been used for centuries in the production of wine, beer and bread, and as a result have been closely studied. However, other species, described as non-conventional, are an underutilised resource that may hold enormous academic and industrial potential.

The EU-funded project 'Yeast biodiversity as a source of innovations in food and health' (CORNUCOPIA) is a Europe-wide initiative that explores the academic and industrial potential of non-conventional yeast species. Increased knowledge in this area will allow researchers to develop new or improved food products and beverages that possess unique characteristics. In addition to new and better probiotics, microorganisms that provide health benefits when ingested can be also be produced,

Project partners are currently developing novel species-specific molecular, genetic and post-genomic tools to discover which yeast genes determine superior traits. Researchers are also 'domesticating' new isolates for use in the lab, and developing scaled-up methods of cultivating microorganisms for use in biotechnology.

Scientists screened several thousand yeast species and identified a number for further research. Tools such as systems for transformation and for the determination of whole genome sequences were developed for manipulating and studying the microorganisms in the laboratory. Scientists also identified several genes responsible for interesting traits such as aroma profile, osmo- and thermo-tolerance, and regulation of carbon metabolism.

One of the most important tasks undertaken by the CORNUCOPIA consortium was to train a new generation of researchers in cutting-edge techniques. Training courses were held on yeast biodiversity and on managing and exploiting innovations, patents and spin-off companies. Practical courses were also conducted on brewing, aroma and chemical analysis, single-cell analysis tools and yeast polygenic traits.

The training carried out under the auspices of CORNUCOPIA will help instil a multidisciplinary outlook in young researchers and prepare them for careers in the EU food and biotech industries. The prospect of finding new species of yeast and the industrial application of non-traditional species holds great promise for future research.