The yeast Dekkera bruxellensis, associated with wine and beer production, has recently received attention, because its high ethanol and acid tolerance enables it to compete with Saccharomyces cerevisiae in distilleries that produce fuel ethanol. We investigated how different cultivation conditions affect the acetic acid tolerance of D. bruxellensis. We analyzed the ability of two strains (CBS 98 and CBS 4482) exhibiting different degrees of tolerance to grow in the presence of acetic acid under aerobic and oxygen-limited conditions. We found that the concomitant presence of acetic acid and oxygen had a negative effect on D. bruxellensis growth. In contrast, incubation under oxygen-limited conditions resulted in reproducible growth kinetics that exhibited a shorter adaptive phase and higher growth rates than those with cultivation under aerobic conditions. This positive effect was more pronounced in CBS 98, the more-sensitive strain. Cultivation of CBS 98 cells under oxygen-limited conditions improved their ability to restore their intracellular pH upon acetic acid exposure and to reduce the oxidative damage to intracellular macromolecules caused by the presence of acetic acid. This study reveals an important role of oxidative stress in acetic acid tolerance in D. bruxellensis, indicating that reduced oxygen availability can protect against the damage caused by the presence of acetic acid. This aspect is important for optimizing industrial processes performed in the presence of acetic acid.
IMPORTANCEThis study reveals an important role of oxidative stress in acetic acid tolerance in D. bruxellensis, indicating that reduced oxygen availability can have a protective role against the damage caused by the presence of acetic acid. This aspect is important for the optimization of industrial processes performed in the presence of acetic acid.A s living microorganisms grow, their metabolism causes considerable changes to their ecological niches: nutrients are sequestered, and a variety of compounds are produced, such as organic acids, ethanol, and others, which can create a hostile environment for other competing microorganisms. Bacteria and yeasts are able to produce large amounts of some organic acids, such as acetic acid. In addition, organisms are constantly faced with different environmental stimuli, stresses, and competition with other organisms, which represent the driving forces leading to the evolution of several traits. The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae exhibits a strong fermentative lifestyle due to the Crabtree effect and to its ability to grow at a high rate even under anaerobic conditions (1-3) and low pH (4). In the context of natural evolution, this ability may have helped this organism to consume sugars quickly and to compete with other microorganisms by producing ethanol (5, 6). During yeast evolution, this particular strategy apparently evolved in at least two lineages: the Saccharomyces complex and Dekkera/Brettanomyces (7). S. cerevisiae is used worldwide for baking, producing alcoholic bev...