(Press-News.org) In a unique collaboration between scientists from the UK, Ecuador and Réunion, a new species of yeast has been discovered growing on the fruit of an unidentified and innocuous bramble collected from the biodiversity-rich Maquipucuna cloud forest nature reserve, near Quito, in Ecuador.
"We are actively looking for new yeasts with the ability to ferment plant material to produce bio-energy," said Dr Steve James from the National Collection of Yeast Cultures at the Institute of Food Research in Norwich.
The collection of yeasts at the institute is already used for bread and brewing as well as many other biotechnological applications. They are also studied for their role in causing food spoilage and human infections.
The scientists have named the new yeast, which produces characteristic Saturn-shaped spores, Saturnispora quitensis in honour of the residents of Quito, who are known as the Quiteňos.
The Maquipucuna Reserve is the gateway to the Chocó Andean Corridor, one of the earth's top three biodiversity hotspots. The Reserve harbours at least 350 species of birds or 4% or the earth's bird diversity, 45 species of mammal, more than 250 species of butterflies and over 2200 plant species including a rich diversity of epiphytes.
The team has a further 300 to 400 yeasts to characterise, isolated from a wide variety of insects and plants collected in Ecuador. Other related species have been isolated in neotropical regions from a variety of sources including flies, flowers, forest soil, insect droppings, leaf litter, tree bark and exudate, and wild mushrooms.
The findings show the importance of biodiversity-rich regions, not just for the iconic animals and plants chosen as flagship species but for lesser-known organisms, many of which are of microbial origin that can be used in green technologies.
Professor Javier Carvajal is lead scientist of the Ecuadorian team from the Colección de Levaduras Quito Católica (CLQCA) at the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador.
"Dr Carvajal and his team are boldly going into habitats never previously explored by yeast biologists," said Dr James.
"It's exciting not only to see and describe the new yeast biodiversity from this neotropical region, but also to look for species with novel biotechnological properties."
"It also seems a strange coincidence that a yeast found on the Earth's equator should produce spores reminiscent in shape to that of the planet Saturn, which has rings orbiting around its equator!"
INFORMATION:
The work was funded with a competitive strategic grant from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC).
Contacts
IFR Press Office
Zoe Dunford, Tel: 01603 255111, email: zoe.dunford@bbsrc.ac.uk
Andrew Chapple, Tel: 01603 251490, email: andrew.chapple@bbsrc.ac.uk
Notes to editors
Full reference: Saturnispora quitensis sp. nov., a yeast species isolated from the Maquipucuna cloud forest reserve in Ecuador, Int J Syst Evol Microbiol (2011), DOI 10.1099/ijs.0.030759-0
About IFR
The mission of the Institute of Food Research (www.ifr.ac.uk) is to undertake international quality scientific research relevant to food and human health and to work in partnership with others to provide underpinning science for consumers, policy makers, the food industry and academia. It is a company limited by guarantee, with charitable status, grant aided by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (www.bbsrc.ac.uk).
About NCYC
Yeast production is a multi-billion dollar industry for brewing, baking, biofuel production, probiotics, and medical applications. The new species described in this study is publicly available alongside several thousand other yeasts at www.ncyc.co.uk. The collection is supported at the IFR by the BBSRC and seeks to make yeast strains and knowledge available to industrial and academic scientists in an equitable and efficient manner.
About BBSRC
BBSRC is the UK funding agency for research in the life sciences and the largest single public funder of agriculture and food-related research.
Sponsored by Government, in 2010/11 BBSRC is investing around £470 million in a wide range of research that makes a significant contribution to the quality of life in the UK and beyond and supports a number of important industrial stakeholders, including the agriculture, food, chemical, healthcare and pharmaceutical sectors.
BBSRC provides institute strategic research grants to the following:
The Babraham Institute, Institute for Animal Health, Institute for Biological, Environmental and Rural Studies (Aberystwyth University), Institute of Food Research, John Innes Centre, The Genome Analysis Centre, The Roslin Institute (University of Edinburgh) and Rothamsted Research.
The Institutes conduct long-term, mission-oriented research using specialist facilities. They have strong interactions with industry, Government departments and other end-users of their research.
For more information see: http://www.bbsrc.ac.uk
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