Industrial brewing yeast engineered for the production of primary flavor determinants in hopped beer

Charles M. Denby (), Rachel A. Li, Vu Van T., Zak Costello, Weiyin Lin, Leanne Jade G. Chan, Joseph Williams, Bryan Donaldson, Charles W. Bamforth, Christopher J. Petzold, Henrik V. Scheller, Hector Garcia Martin and Jay D. Keasling ()
Additional contact information
Charles M. Denby: University of California
Rachel A. Li: Joint BioEnergy Institute
Vu Van T.: University of California
Zak Costello: Joint BioEnergy Institute
Weiyin Lin: University of California
Leanne Jade G. Chan: Joint BioEnergy Institute
Joseph Williams: University of California Davis
Bryan Donaldson: Lagunitas Brewing Company
Charles W. Bamforth: University of California Davis
Christopher J. Petzold: Joint BioEnergy Institute
Henrik V. Scheller: Joint BioEnergy Institute
Hector Garcia Martin: Joint BioEnergy Institute
Jay D. Keasling: University of California

Nature Communications, 2018, vol. 9, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Abstract Flowers of the hop plant provide both bitterness and “hoppy” flavor to beer. Hops are, however, both a water and energy intensive crop and vary considerably in essential oil content, making it challenging to achieve a consistent hoppy taste in beer. Here, we report that brewer’s yeast can be engineered to biosynthesize aromatic monoterpene molecules that impart hoppy flavor to beer by incorporating recombinant DNA derived from yeast, mint, and basil. Whereas metabolic engineering of biosynthetic pathways is commonly enlisted to maximize product titers, tuning expression of pathway enzymes to affect target production levels of multiple commercially important metabolites without major collateral metabolic changes represents a unique challenge. By applying state-of-the-art engineering techniques and a framework to guide iterative improvement, strains are generated with target performance characteristics. Beers produced using these strains are perceived as hoppier than traditionally hopped beers by a sensory panel in a double-blind tasting.

Date: 2018
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-03293-x

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