AEM Accepts, published online ahead of print on 31 August 2007

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Appl. Environ. Microbiol. doi:10.1128/AEM.01246-07
Copyright (c) 2007, American Society for Microbiology and/or the Listed Authors/Institutions. All Rights Reserved.

Decarboxylation of sorbic acid by spoilage yeasts is encoded by the PAD1 gene

Malcolm Stratford, Andrew Plumridge, and David B. Archer^*

School of Biology, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, United Kingdom

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: david.archer{at}nottingham.ac.uk.

The spoilage yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae degraded the food preservative sorbic acid (2,4-hexadienoic acid) to a volatile hydrocarbon, identified by GCMS as 1,3-pentadiene. The gene responsible was identified as PAD1, previously associated with decarboxylation of aromatic carboxylic acids, cinnamic acid, ferulic acid and coumaric acid, to styrene, 4-vinylguaiacol and 4-vinylphenol respectively. Loss of PAD1 resulted in the simultaneous loss of decarboxylation activity against both sorbic and cinnamic acids. Pad1p is therefore an unusual decarboxylase capable of accepting both aromatic and aliphatic carboxylic acids as substrates. All members of the Saccharomyces genus (sensu stricto) were found to decarboxylate both sorbic and cinnamic acids. PAD1 homologues and decarboxylation activity were found also in Candida albicans, C. dublinensis, Debaryomyces hansenii and Pichia anomala. The decarboxylation of sorbic acid was assessed as a possible mechanism of resistance in spoilage yeasts. Decarboxylation of either sorbic or cinnamic acids was not detected in Zygosaccharomyces, Kazachstania (Saccharomyces sensu lato), Zygotorulaspora or Torulaspora, genera containing the most notorious spoilage yeasts. Scatter plots showed no correlation between the extent of sorbic acid decarboxylation and resistance to sorbic acid in spoilage yeasts. Inhibitory concentrations of sorbic acid were almost identical in S. cerevisiae wild type and pad1 strains. It was concluded that Pad1p-mediated sorbic acid decarboxylation did not constitute a significant mechanism of resistance to weak-acid preservatives by spoilage yeasts, even if it may contribute to spoilage through generation of unpleasant odours.

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