Variation in the mineral composition of wine produced using different winemaking techniques.

It has been reported that the concentrations of minerals in wines can be used to discriminate their geographical origin. However, some winemaking techniques may also affect the mineral concentration of the final product. In this study, we examined the effects of various winemaking techniques, including (i) fining, (ii) aging with oak tips, (iii) maceration with grape skins, (iv) chaptalization and acidification, and (v) yeast nutrient addition for alcohol fermentation, on the concentration of 18 minerals (Li, B, Na, Mg, Si, P, S, K, Ca, Mn, Co, Ni, Ga, Rb, Sr, Mo, Ba and Pb) in a total of 154 wine samples using grapes from different production areas.

New urethanase from the yeast Candida parapsilosis.

Urethanase (EC 3.5.1.

Effect of light on carotenoid and lipid production in the oleaginous yeast .

The oleaginous yeast is receiving widespread attention as an alternative energy source for biofuels due to its unicellular nature, high growth rate and because it can be fermented on a large-scale. In this study, was cultured under both light and dark conditions in order to understand the light response involved in lipid and carotenoid biosynthesis. Our results from phenotype and gene expression analysis showed that responded to light by producing darker pigmentation with an associated increase in carotenoid production.

Development of sake yeast haploid set with diverse brewing properties using sake yeast strain Hiroshima no. 6 exhibiting sexual reproduction.

Among sake yeast strains, Kyokai no. 7 (K7) and its closely related strains (K7 group) are predominantly used because of their excellent brewing properties. In the sake industrial sector, the need for various types of yeast strains is high.

Long-term responses to climate change of the carbon and oxygen stable isotopic compositions and gelatinization temperature of rice.

The stable isotopic compositions of carbon (δC) and oxygen (δO) in rice are often used to confirm its authenticity. The gelatinization temperature is a crucial factor in alcoholic fermentation. However, little is known about the isotopic and thermal responses of rice to climate change.

Efficacy of Long-Term Feeding of α-Glycerophosphocholine for Aging-Related Phenomena in Old Mice.

α-Glycerophosphocholine (GPC) is a natural source of choline. It reportedly prevents aging-related decline in cognitive function, but the underlying mechanism remains unclear. Although it is understood that aging influences taste sensitivity and energy regulation, whether GPC exerts antiaging effects on such phenomena requires further elucidation.

The sake yeast allele contributes to the regulation of the tetrahydrofolate content in the folate synthetic pathway in sake yeast strains.

To elucidate the mechanism underlying tetrahydrofolate (THF) accumulation in sake yeast strains compared with that in laboratory yeast strains, we performed a quantitative trait locus (QTL) analysis. The results revealed that the sake yeast allele contributes to an increase in the ratio of THF to the total folate content in sake yeast.

An updated data portal for fungal allergens with curated information.

Allergens originating from fungal components abundantly exist in and around human life. We constructed a data portal specific for fungal allergens that includes genomic data from four Aspergillus species used by beverage industries. The fungal database contains the information of nucleotide sequences, which are similar to the coding region of already known allergens in the public database.

Characteristic analysis of the fermentation and sporulation properties of the traditional sake yeast strain Hiroshima no.6.

General sake yeasts (e.g., Kyokai no.

Factors affecting levels of ferulic acid, ethyl ferulate and taste-active pyroglutamyl peptides in sake.

Factors affecting ferulic acid, ethyl ferulate and taste-active pyroglutamyl (pGlu) peptides levels in sake were analyzed using small-scale sake brewing tests on eighteen rice samples with differing cultivar variety, cropped year and area, and polishing rate. Ferulic acid concentration in sake was highly positively correlated with its content in rice (r = 0.782**, double asterisk indicates 1% significance level), feruloylesterase (FE) activity (r = 0.

Author Correction: BiFC-based visualisation system reveals cell fusion morphology and heterokaryon incompatibility in the filamentous fungus Aspergillus oryzae.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Aspergillus luchuensis fatty acid oxygenase ppoC is necessary for 1-octen-3-ol biosynthesis in rice koji.

Awamori is a distilled spirit produced in Okinawa Prefecture, in southern Japan. Awamori contains the volatile organic compound 1-octen-3-ol, an important flavor component. Here, using solid-phase microextraction-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (SPME-GCMS), we demonstrate that the black koji mold Aspergillus luchuensis produces 1-octen-3-ol in rice koji.

Isolation methods of high glycosidase-producing mutants of and its mutated genes.

High glycosidase-producing strains of were isolated from 2-deoxyglucose (2-DG) resistant mutants. α-Amylase, exo-α-1,4-glucosidase, β-glucosidase and β-xylosidase activity in the mutants was ~3, ~2, ~4 and ~2.5 times higher than the parental strain RIB2604 on koji-making conditions, respectively.

Mechanism of high folate accumulation in a sake yeast other than Kyokai yeasts.

Folates are important vitamins in human nutrition. Pressed sake cake, a brewing by-product of sake, is a rich dietary source of folates derived from sake yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae). The National Research Institute of Brewing investigated 106 samples of pressed sake cake and revealed that three samples containing large amounts of folates were produced by Km67 yeast derived from the house sake yeast strain of Kiku-Masamune sake brewery.

Increase in the oxygen stable isotopic composition of water in wine with low ethanol yield.

The stable isotopic composition of oxygen (δO) in wine is often analysed to determine the geographic origin of the wine and the amount of water dilution. However, little is known regarding the effects of two major winemaking techniques (the addition of acid (acidification) and sugar (chaptalization)) on the δO value of water in wine. Here we show that acidification and chaptalization have minor direct effects on the δO value but indirect effects based on the ethanol yield, which causes isotopic variation of up to 0.

Genome editing to generate nonfoam-forming sake yeast strains.

Mutations frequently occur during breeding of sake yeasts and result in unexpected phenotypes. Here, genome editing tools were applied to develop an ideal nonfoam-forming sake yeast strain, K7GE01, which had homozygous / deletion alleles that were responsible for nonfoam formation and few off-target mutations. High-dimensional morphological phenotyping revealed no detectable morphological differences between the genome-edited strain and its parent, while the canonical nonfoam-forming strain, K701, showed obvious morphological changes.

Sake cake (sake-kasu) ingestion increases branched-chain amino acids in the plasma, muscles, and brains of senescence-accelerated mice prone 8.

To examine metabolic effects of sake cake ingestion, plasma and tissues were analyzed in senescence-accelerated mice prone 8 (SAMP8) fed a sake cake diet. As a result, branched-chain amino acids (BCAA) were found to be significantly higher in the plasma, gastrocnemius muscles and brains of the sake cake group than in the control group. Mice in the sake cake group showed stronger grip strength than the control group.

Effect of pepA deletion and overexpression in Aspergillus luchuensis on sweet potato shochu brewing.

The mash of sweet potato shochu (Japanese distilled spirit) has a low pH value because the shochu koji mold produces a large amount of citric acid, which prevents germ contamination. In this study, we examined acid protease PepA's role in shochu production. For this purpose, we constructed pepA deletion and overexpression strains, using a black koji mold Aspergillus luchuensis RIB 2604 (NBRC 4314), with the Agrobacterium-mediated transformation method.

Analysis of metabolites in Japanese alcoholic beverage sake made from the sake rice .

In sake brewing, the steamed rice is used in two ways, added to sake-mash (as ) and making . The rice is an important determinant for the quality of sake, as the metabolites in sake affect its taste/aroma. The sake rice (KOS) was developed in Niigata Prefecture by genetically crossing two sake rice, and .

Glutelin subtype-dependent protein localization in rice grain evidenced by immunodetection analyses.

GluA and GluB-4/5 glutelin subfamilies are mainly localized to outer region of the endosperm, particularly in its ventral side, in rice grain, but GluC is localized to throughout the endosperm. The major seed storage protein in rice (Oryza sativa) is glutelin, which forms a vacuole-derived protein body type-II. Glutelins are encoded by multiple genes, and generally comprise four protein subfamilies, namely, GluA, GluB, GluC, and GluD: however, the localization pattern of glutelin in rice grains remains obscure.

Investigation of relationship between sake-making parameters and sake metabolites using a newly developed sake metabolome analysis method.

We developed a sake metabolome analysis method using liquid chromatography-quadrupole/time-of-flight mass spectrometry to investigate the metabolome of various types of sakes and other alcohol beverages. Our method identified 198 compounds by comparison with standard metabolites. Using this method, we investigated the relationship between several sake-making parameters and sake metabolites by conducting combination experiments of these parameters using small-scale fermentation.

Progress in the genomics and genome-wide study of sake yeast.

Completion of the whole genome sequence of a laboratory yeast strain in 1996 ushered in the development of genome-wide experimental tools and accelerated subsequent genetic study of . The study of sake yeast also shared the benefit of such tools as DNA microarrays, gene disruption-mutant collections, and others. Moreover, whole genome analysis of representative sake yeast strain Kyokai no.

Influence of α-1,3-glucan synthase gene agsE on protoplast formation for transformation of Aspergillus luchuensis.

Aspergillus luchuensis NBRC4314 recently underwent genome sequencing. We have not used the frequently used protoplast-polyethylene glycol (PEG) method but have used agrobacterium-mediated transformation (AMT) to genetically engineer this strain because it was difficult to generate protoplasts using commercial cell wall lytic enzymes. In this study, we initially investigated the various conditions for protoplast formation in A.

Identification of enzymes from genus Trichoderma that can accelerate formation of ferulic acid and ethyl ferulate in collaboration with rice koji enzyme in sake mash.

The enzymes responsible for acceleration of ferulic acid and ethyl ferulate formation in sake mash were studied. Ferulic acid and ethyl ferulate are formed during the sake brewing process from feruloylated glucuronoarabinoxylan. Cellulase reagent from genus Trichoderma was used instead of rice koji, because rice koji for sake brewing produces extremely low levels of xylan-degrading enzymes.

Inter-strain expression of sequence-diverse HET domain genes severely inhibits growth of .

In the Pezizomycotina (filamentous ascomycete) species, genes that encode proteins with an HET domain (Pfam: PF06985) are reportedly involved in heterokaryon incompatibility (HI) in which cell death or growth defects are induced after fusion of cells that are genetically incompatible owing to diversities in their nucleotide sequence. HET domain genes are commonly found in Pezizomycotina genomes and are functionally characterized in only a few species. Here, we compared 44 HET domain genes between an incompatible strain pair of RIB40 and RIB128 and performed inter-strain expression of 37 sequence-diverse genes for mimicking HI.