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Assessing the occurrence and mechanisms of horizontal gene transfer during wine making
Thesis (PhD (Microbiology))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009.
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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2009
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| _version_ | 1867613741614366720 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Barnard, Desire |
| author2 | Bauer, Florian |
| author_browse | Barnard, Desire Bauer, Florian |
| author_facet | Bauer, Florian Barnard, Desire |
| author_sort | Barnard, Desire |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | Thesis (PhD (Microbiology))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/1216 |
| institution | Stellenbosch University (South Africa) |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:40:58.109Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from SUNScholar — Stellenbosch University Repository |
| publishDate | 2009 |
| publishDateRange | 2009 |
| publishDateSort | 2009 |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | SUNScholar — Stellenbosch University Repository |
| spelling | oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/1216 Assessing the occurrence and mechanisms of horizontal gene transfer during wine making Barnard, Desire Bauer, Florian Wolfaardt, Gideon M. University of Stellenbosch. Faculty of Science. Dept. of Microbiology. Horizontal gene transfer Dissertations -- Microbiology Theses -- Microbiology Yeast Genetic transformation Wine and wine making -- Microbiology Thesis (PhD (Microbiology))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009. ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Saccharomyces cerevisiae is the most commonly used organism in many fermentation-based industries including baking and the production of single cell proteins, biofuel and alcoholic beverages. In the wine industry, a consumer driven demand for new and improved products has focussed yeast research on developing strains with new qualities. Tremendous progress in the understanding of yeast genetics has promoted the development of yeast biotechnology and subsequently of genetically modified (GM) wine yeast strains. The potential benefits of such GM wine yeast are numerous, benefitting both wine makers and consumers. However, the safety considerations require intense evaluation before launching such strains into commercial production. Such assessments consider the possibility of the transfer of newly engineered DNA from the originally modified host to an unrelated organism. This process of horizontal gene transfer (HGT) creates a potential hazard in the use of such organisms. Although HGT has been extensively studied within the prokaryotic domain, there is an urgent need for similar studies on their eukaryotic counterparts. This study was therefore undertaken to help improve our understanding of this issue by investigating HGT in a model eukaryotic organism through a step-by-step approach. In a first step, this study attempted to determine whether large DNA fragments are released from fermenting wine yeast strains and, in a second step, to assess the stability of released DNA within such a fermenting background. The third step investigated in this study was to establish whether “free floating” DNA within this fermenting environment could be accepted and functionally expressed by the fermenting yeast cultures. Finally, whole plasmid transfer was also investigated as a unified event. Biofilms were also incorporated into this study as they constitute a possibly conducive environment for the observation of such HGT events. The results obtained during this study help to answer most of the above questions. Firstly, during an investigation into the possible release of large DNA fragments (>500 bp) from a GM commercial wine yeast strain (Parental strain: Vin13), no DNA could be detected within the fermenting background, suggesting that such DNA fragments were not released in large numbers. Secondly, the study revealed remarkable stability of free “floating DNA” under these fermentation conditions, identifying intact DNA of up to ~1kb in fermenting media for up to 62 days after it had been added. Thirdly, the data demonstrate the uptake and functional expression of spiked DNA by fermenting Vin13 cultures in grape must. Here, another interesting discovery was made, since it appears that the fermenting natural grape must favours DNA uptake when compared to synthetic must, suggesting the presence of carrier molecules. Additionally, we found that spiked plasmid DNA was not maintained as a circular unit, but that only the antibiotic resistance marker was maintained through genomic integration. Identification of the sites of integration showed the sites varied from one HGT event to the next, indicating that integration occurred through a process known as illegitimate recombination. Finally, we provide evidence for the direct transfer of whole plasmids between Vin13 strains. The overall outcome of this study is that HGT does indeed occur under the conditions investigated. To our knowledge, this is the first report of direct horizontal DNA transfer between organisms of the same species in eukaryotes. Furthermore, while the occurences of such events appears low in number, it cannot be assumed that HGT will not occur more frequently within an industrial scenario, making industrial scale studies similar to this one paramount before drawing further conclusions. NO AFRIKAANS SUMMARY AVAILABLE Doctoral 2009-11-19T09:53:00Z 2010-06-01T08:15:17Z 2009-11-19T09:53:00Z 2010-06-01T08:15:17Z 2009-12 Thesis http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/1216 en application/pdf |
| spellingShingle | Horizontal gene transfer Dissertations -- Microbiology Theses -- Microbiology Yeast Genetic transformation Wine and wine making -- Microbiology Barnard, Desire Assessing the occurrence and mechanisms of horizontal gene transfer during wine making |
| title | Assessing the occurrence and mechanisms of horizontal gene transfer during wine making |
| title_full | Assessing the occurrence and mechanisms of horizontal gene transfer during wine making |
| title_fullStr | Assessing the occurrence and mechanisms of horizontal gene transfer during wine making |
| title_full_unstemmed | Assessing the occurrence and mechanisms of horizontal gene transfer during wine making |
| title_short | Assessing the occurrence and mechanisms of horizontal gene transfer during wine making |
| title_sort | assessing the occurrence and mechanisms of horizontal gene transfer during wine making |
| topic | Horizontal gene transfer Dissertations -- Microbiology Theses -- Microbiology Yeast Genetic transformation Wine and wine making -- Microbiology |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/1216 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT barnarddesire assessingtheoccurrenceandmechanismsofhorizontalgenetransferduringwinemaking |