BIOPEPTIDES- Biopreservation of Ethanolic Fermentations: antimicrobial activity, biochemical properties and molecular characterization of yeast peptides

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Saccharomycin, a biocide from S. cerevisiae that kill-off other yeasts

Publication . Caldeira, Jorge; Gabriela Almeida, M.; Macedo, Anjos L.; Silva, José P. M.; Albergaria, Helena

ABSTRACT: Introduction: Saccharomyces cerevisiae plays an important role in alcoholic fermentation and is involved in the production of wine, beer and bread. Recent studies [1–7] showed that S. cerevisiae secretes antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), named “saccharomycin”, derived from the glycolytic enzyme glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) that are active against a variety of wine-related microbial species. AMPs are low molecular weight proteins with broad antimicrobial spectrum of action against bacteria, viruses, and fungi [8]. Organisms use AMPs for defence against infection and membrane interaction appears to be the key to this antimicrobial function: generally they adopt amphiphilic structures that interact with the infectious agent’s membrane. AMPs constitute a promising source as alternatives to: i) combat pathogenic bacteria resistant to common antibiotics and ii) substitute chemical preservatives in food-fermented products such as wine. The aim of this study was to discover the mode of action of these peptides by detailed chemical structure characterisation and cell contact mechanism.

2019Journal article

Open access