Mixed culture of killer and sensitive Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains in batch and continuous fermentations

This paper presents a kinetic study of the dynamics of the population of two Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains (designated K1 and 522D) in mixed culture. These two strains are commonly used in wine making. The K1 strain (killer yeast) secretes a glycoprotein (killer toxin) which causes the death of the 522D strain (sensitive yeast). Initially, the mixed cultures were realized in batch fermentations. Initial concentrations of killer yeast were 5 and 10% of the total population. The influence of the killer strain on the sensitive cultures was measured in comparison with a reference fermentation. The reference fermentation was inoculated only with the sensitive strain. Results show that an initial concentration of 10% of killer strain affects the microbial population balance and the rate of ethanol production. However the fermentation was only slightly disturbed when the proportion of killer to sensitive yeast at the beginning of mixed culture was 5%. To achieve total displacement by the killer yeast at low concentrations, the mixed cultures were carried out in a continuous system. The results obtained in continuous fermentations with the same strains have shown that a level of contamination as low as 0.8% of killer strain was sufficient to completely displace the original sensitive population after 150 h incubation.