UNICAMP researchers study DNA and population dynamics of yeast for ethanol production

In Brazil, researchers at the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP) in Brazil, in collaboration with colleagues at Harvard University in the United States, conducted an innovative study of the DNA and population dynamics of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the yeast used to produce fuel ethanol from sugarcane by plants throughout Brazil, with the aim of finding routes to more stable, consistent and predictable fermentation performance.

The study was based on whole-genome sequencing and metagenomics (the analysis of a collection of genomes from a community of organisms). The results were reported in an article published in the journal G3: Genes, Genomes, Genetics.