The Wine Yeast Strain-Dependent Expression of Genes Implicated in Sulfide Production in Response to Nitrogen Availability

Sulfur metabolism in S. cerevisiae is well established, but the mechanisms underlying the formation of sulfide remain obscure. Here, we investigated by real-time RT-PCR the dependence of expression levels of MET3,MET5/ECM17, MET10, MET16, and MET17 along with SSUI on nitrogen availability in two wine yeast strains that produce divergent sulfide profiles. MET3 was the most highly expressed of the genes studied in strain PYCC4072, and SSU1 in strain UCD522. The strains behaved differently according to the sampling times, with UCD522 and PYCC4072 showing the highest expression levels at 120 h and 72 h, respectively. In the presence of 267 mg assimilable Nil, the genes were more highly expressed in strain UCD522 than in PYCC4072. MET5/ECM17 and MET! 7 were only weakly expressed in both strains under any condition tested. MET10 and SSU1 in both strains, but MET16 only in PYCC4072, were consistently upregulated when sulfide production was inhibited. This study illustrates that strain genotype could be important in determining enzyme activities and therefore the rate of sulfide liberation. This linkage, for some yeast strains, of sulfide production to expression levels of genes associated with sulfate assimilation and sulfur amino acid biosynthesis could be relevant for defining new strategies for the genetic improvement of wine yeasts.