Differentiation of food spoilage yeast strains of the Yarrowia group by microsatellite polymerase chain reaction fingerprinting

Abstract

Yarrowia lipolytica is a frequently reported food spoilage yeast which occurs mainly in meat and milk products. Besides its detrimental role in the food spoilage it has many favourable properties. This yeast also has been developed as a production host for a large variety of biotechnological applications. Some species of the Yarrowia group cannot be differentiated by conventional methods based on phenotypic characteristics, so it is probable that not only Yarrowia lipolytica, but also other species of the Yarrowia group contribute to food spoilage or can have a beneficial role in the industry. A relatively fast, easy and low-cost but reliable method would be useful to differentiate and identify these species properly.

Microsatellite PCR fingerprinting method is commonly used for the discrimination of species or strains within species, it is also applied for the identification of yeast species and in many yeast diversity studies, however, its reliability can be queried.

The aim of this study was to assess the reliability of microsatellite PCR fingerprinting using (GAC)₅ primer in the differentiation and identification of the yeast strains of the Yarrowia group by clustering them using microsatellite-PCR fingerprinting, then identifying them by sequencing the D1/D2 regions of the LSU rDNA of one or a few selected representatives of each cluster.

Two hundred and nineteen yeast strains of the Yarrowia group were examined.

Using this molecular biological method, yeast strains of the Yarrowia group from raw meat, raw milk, cheese and cottage cheese were assigned to seven species The food spoilage yeast strains of the Yarrowia group can be successfully differentiated by using microsatellite PCR fingerprinting method using (GAC)₅ primer, even their identity, thus their diversity can be assessed.