Some species of the Saccharomyces genus have shown better adaptation at low temperature than the wine yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. That is the case of the cryophilic yeast Saccharomyces kudriavzevii. Several studies have revealed the importance of the lipid composition in the yeast adaptive response at different environmental temperatures. Thus we analysed the lipid composition of three S. kudriavzevii strains during growth at optimum (28°C) and low temperature (12°C), and compared them with different commercial strains; one S. cerevisiae strain and two hybrids between S. cerevisiae and S. kudriavzevii. Our results show a general increase in the medium-chain fatty acid, triacylglyceride, sterol esters and squalene and a decrease in the chain length of the fatty acids, in phosphatidic acid and in the ratio phosphatidylcholine/phosphatidylethanolamine at low temperatures. The S. kudriavzevii strains had higher percentages of medium-chain fatty acids and squalene and shorter chain lengths regardless of the growth temperature. This differential lipid composition may partially explain the better adaptation of S. kudriavzevii at low temperatures. We have also confirmed the better fermentation performance of the strains of this species at low temperature, being an appealing alternative to S. cerevisiae for cold fermentations.
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