Publications by authors named "Pei-Jie Han"

In the survey of yeast diversity in high-temperature Daqu, which is a fermentation starter for Chinese sauce-flavoured Baijiu, six yeast strains representing one novel species of the genus were isolated from samples of Daqu and surrounding environments collected in Zunyi city, Guizhou Province, China. Phylogenetic analyses of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region and the D1/D2 domains of the large subunit rRNA gene indicate that these six strains are conspecific with three other strains isolated from flowers and duckweed collected in Samoa, India and Thailand. The representative strain QFC-8 of the new species differs from the closet species resolved by the D1/D2 sequence analysis by 13 (3.

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Medium-temperature Daqu (MT-Daqu) serves as a crucial saccharifying and fermentation agent in the production of strong-flavor Baijiu. Due to the spatial heterogeneity of solid fermentation, significant differences occurred in the fermentation state and appearance features in different parts of Daqu during fermentation. Currently, the understanding of the underlying mechanism behind this phenomenon remains limited.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The study examines yeast-like fungi linked to dairy, cosmetics, fruit decay, and human infections, highlighting a need to update their taxonomic classification according to new naming guidelines.
  • - Phylogenetic analysis of these fungi reveals two distinct groups, prompting reclassification into one genus each, using the names based on publication priority.
  • - Five new species of these fungi were discovered from strains collected in China, each being formally introduced with the designation "sp. nov." next to their names.
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Daqu is used as the fermentation starter of Baijiu and contributes diversified functional microbes for saccharifying grains and converting sugars into ethanol and aroma components in Baijiu products. Daqu is mainly classified into three types, namely low (LTD), medium (MTD) and high (HTD) temperature Daqu, according to the highest temperatures reached in their fermentation processes. In this study, we used the PacBio small-molecule real-time (SMRT) sequencing technology to determine the full-length 16 S rRNA gene sequences from the metagenomes of 296 samples of different types of Daqu collected from ten provinces in China, and revealed the bacterial diversity at the species level in the Daqu samples.

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Five yeast strains isolated from tree bark and rotten wood collected in central and southwestern China, together with four Brazilian strains (three from soil and rotting wood collected in an Amazonian rainforest biome and one from Bromeliad collected in Alagoas state) and one Costa Rican strain isolated from a flower beetle, represent a new species closely related with Yueomyces sinensis in Saccharomycetaceae, as revealed by the 26S ribosomal RNA gene D1/D2 domain and the internal transcribed spacer region sequence analysis. The name Yueomyces silvicola sp. nov.

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Msalais is a traditional wine produced from naturally fermented boiled local grape juice in China. It has characteristic dried fruit and caramel odors, mainly attributed to aromatic compounds, such as furaneol and 5-methylfurfural. However, it is unclear how microbes involved in the natural fermentation of Msalais contribute to this characteristic aroma.

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Light-flavor Baijiu fermentation is a typical spontaneous solid-state fermentation process fueled by a variety of microorganisms. Mechanized processes have been increasingly employed in Baijiu production to replace traditional manual operation processes, however, the microbiological and physicochemical dynamics in mechanized processes remain largely unknown. Here, we investigated the microbial community succession and flavor compound formation during a whole mechanized fermentation process of light-flavor Baijiu using the conventional dilution plating method, PacBio single-molecule real-time (SMRT) sequencing and headspace solid-phase microextraction coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

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Daqu is a traditional starter for Baijiu fermentation and is produced by spontaneous fermentation of ground and moistened barley or wheat. The quality of Daqu is traditionally evaluated based on physicochemical and subjective sensory parameters without microbiological analysis. Here, we compared the physicochemical characteristics of qualified (QD) and inferior (ID) Daqu, their microbial communities based on plate counting and PacBio SMRT sequencing of rRNA gene libraries, and their impacts on Baijiu fermentation.

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In the survey of mycobiota of mudflats in China, two new sexually reproducing sect. species were discovered and studied using a polyphasic approach. These species are named here (ex-type AS3.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The wild yeast Saccharomyces paradoxus is emerging as a key model organism in ecology and evolutionary biology, but its distribution and genetic diversity in China remain largely uncharted.
  • - An extensive survey in China identified two distinct lineages of S. paradoxus: most strains belong to the Far East lineage, while six strains represent a newly discovered, highly diverged lineage.
  • - The study indicates that the Eurasian population of S. paradoxus shows higher genetic diversity compared to the American population, with more lineage-specific introgression events occurring in Eurasia.
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Article Synopsis
  • Researchers sequenced the genomes of 97 strains of the yeast Saccharomycopsis fibuligera, which is important for Chinese liquor production, to explore its genetic diversity.
  • They identified four main genetic lineages, with one containing 60 homozygous strains that are smaller in size and less diverse, while the other three lineages are heterozygous and more diverse with larger genomes.
  • Although there were significant gene variations between lineages, no major differences in enzyme activity or growth patterns were found, except for higher glucoamylase activity in the homozygous strains.
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Heterosis or hybrid vigor is a common phenomenon in plants and animals; however, the molecular mechanisms underlying heterosis remain elusive, despite extensive studies on the phenomenon for more than a century. Here we constructed a large collection of F1 hybrids of by spore-to-spore mating between homozygous wild strains of the species with different genetic distances and compared growth performance of the F1 hybrids with their parents. We found that heterosis was prevalent in the F1 hybrids at 40°C.

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Recent studies on population genomics of have substantially improved our understanding of the genetic diversity and domestication history of the yeast. However, the origin of the domesticated population of and the genomic changes responsible for ecological adaption of different populations and lineages remain to be fully revealed. Here we sequenced 64 African strains from various indigenous fermented foods and forests in different African countries and performed a population genomic analysis on them combined with a set of previously sequenced worldwide strains representing the maximum genetic diversity of the species documented so far.

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  • The study examined the microbial diversity and community structures during the fermentation of Liushenqu (Massa Medicata Fermentata) to understand its pharmacodynamics effects.
  • Researchers established a standardized fermentation process and monitored changes in dominant fungal and bacterial species at five different time points using various microbial culturing methods and DNA sequencing.
  • Findings revealed that initially Aspergillus spp. was dominant, but as fermentation progressed, Saccharomycopsis fibuligera and Rhizopus oryzae (fungi) and Enterobacter cloacae (bacteria) became predominant, suggesting a decrease in species diversity over time.
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One novel ascomycetous yeast strain TF5-16-2 was isolated from water samples of Tuofengling crater lake located in Da Hinggan Ling Mountain, in the Inner Mongolia province of China. Morphological, physiological characteristics, as well as phylogenetic analyses of D1/D2 domains of the large subunit rRNA (LSU), ITS region, small subunit rRNA (SSU), and elongation factor-1α (EF-1α) were performed and finally confirmed the phylogenetic placement of strain TF5-16-2 in the genus Wickerhamomyces. Sequences analysis revealed that strain TF5-16-2 differed from its most closely related phylogenetic neighbors 'Candida' silvicultrix CBS 6269 and Wickerhamomyces anomalus CBS 5759 by 8.

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Glucose repression is a central regulatory system in yeast that ensures the utilization of carbon sources in a highly economical manner. The galactose (GAL) metabolism network is stringently regulated by glucose repression in yeast and has been a classic system for studying gene regulation. We show here that a Saccharomyces cerevisiae (S.

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The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae has been an essential component of human civilization because of its long global history of use in food and beverage fermentation. However, the diversity and evolutionary history of the domesticated populations of the yeast remain elusive. We show here that China/Far East Asia is likely the center of origin of the domesticated populations of the species.

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Four strains, CB 266(T), CB 272, XZ 44D1(T) and XZ 49D2, isolated from shrub plant leaves in China were identified as two novel species of the genus Ballistosporomyces by the sequence analysis of the small subunit of ribosomal RNA (SSU rRNA), the D1/D2 domains of the large subunit of rRNA (LSU rRNA) and internal transcribed spacer (ITS) + 5.8S rRNA region, and physiological comparisons. Ballistosporomyces changbaiensis sp.

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Lager-brewing arose in 15th century Bavaria [1] and is nowadays the most popular technique for alcoholic beverage production in the world. The technique is characterized by low temperature fermentation using the domesticated yeast Saccharomyces pastorianus (synonym S. carlsbergensis).

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Two strains isolated from rotten wood were included in the Saccharomyces group based on morphological characteristics. However, rRNA gene sequence analyses (including the 18S rRNA gene, 26S rRNA gene D1/D2 domain and internal transcribed spacer region) indicated that these two strains represent a novel species of Naumovozyma, for which the name Naumovozyma baii sp. nov.

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In a survey of ballistoconidium-forming yeast diversity in the phyllosphere, five strains from wilting plant leaves collected from Kanas Nature Reserve in Xinjiang province, China were selected based on morphological comparison. These strains formed pinkish-white colonies and large bilaterally symmetrical ballistoconidia. Molecular phylogenetic analyses based on the 26S rRNA D1/D2 domain and ITS region sequences showed that these strains belonged to the Udeniomyces clade in the Cystofilobasidiales.

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