The wine spoilage yeast Brettanomyces bruxellensis: predicting its tolerance to sulphite treatments using TYPEBRETT testThe wine spoilage yeast Brettanomyces bruxellensis: predicting its tolerance to sulphite treatments using TYPEBRETT test

Marta Avramova¹,  Alice Cibrario¹, Emilien Peltier¹, Amélie Vallet-Courbin², Julie Maupeu², Franck Salin³ , Marguerite Dols-Lafargue^1,4,  Isabelle Masneuf-Pomarede^{1, 5}, Warren Albertin^1,4

Introduction

The yeast Brettanomyces bruxellensis is the first cause of microbial spoilage in wine, particularly in red wines where it is associated with the ‘Brett’ character, described as “barnyard” and “wet-horse”. Sulphite remains the most widely used antimicrobial preservative in wineries, but some Brett isolates could be tolerant to such treatments. 

Material & methods

In this work, we assessed the genetic variability of >1400 isolates of B. bruxellensis strains using microsatellites markers. Genetic sub-populations were defined, and the tolerance to sulphite treatments was evaluated for 40 representative isolates.

Results

Among our collection, 37% of the isolates were SO2-tolerant. We show a clear relationship between genetic groups and SO2 tolerance and we propose a molecular tool (TYPEBRETT) to predict the tolerance ability of Brett isolated from wine. TYPEBRETT is currently tested for a larger collection of strains isolates (150) and adapted for wine sampling.

Significance

Winemakers could use the TYPEBRETT test to predict the tolerance ability of the Brett spoilage, and thus adapt their practices, and limit the sulphite treatment to wines that are not contaminated by sulphite tolerant strains.
TYPEBRETT could be used to predict the tolerance ability of the Brett spoilage, adapt their practices and sulphite treatments

¹Univ. Bordeaux, ISVV, Unité de recherche Œnologie EA 4577, USC 1366 INRA, Bordeaux INP, 33140 Villenave d’Ornon, France 

²Microflora-ADERA, ISVV, Unité de recherche Œnologie EA 4577, 33140 Villenave d’Ornon, France 

³INRA, UMR Biodiversité Gènes et Ecosystèmes, PlateForme Génomique, 33610 Cestas, France 

⁴ENSCBP, Bordeaux INP, 33600 Pessac, France  5Bordeaux Sciences Agro, 33170 Gradignan, France