In silico comparative proteomics of Hanseniaspora species to catalyze new biotechnological applications for these yeasts

06/18/2025

Yeasts of the Hanseniaspora genus are recognized to have potential as microbial cell factories (particularly in the wine industry), however this is hindered by limited knowledge available about their physiology and underneath genetic players. To expand knowledge in this area, this study conducted a thorough in silico comparative functional proteomic analysis of eight Hanseniaspora species (H. clermontiae, H. meyeri, H. guilliermondii, H. jakobsenii, H. opuntiae, H. hatyaiensis, H. nectarophila, H. gamundiae), resorting to annotated proteomes obtained in the lab that hosted this thesis and through iterative Multi-BLAST analyses conducted to examine species- and clade- similarities and differences. Among other aspects, candidate species-specific proteins were identified in all eight species, with the highest numbers being detected in H. gamundiae and H. jakobsenii, likely reflecting their lower phylogenetic relatedness to the other species used in the analysis. Functional analysis of these species-specific proteins suggests them to be involved in translation, stress response, maintenance of genome stability, chromatin remodeling, among others. Candidate clade-specific proteins (found in fast-evolving or in slow-evolving lineages) were also identified, with the subsequent functional comparative analysis of these lineage-specific proteins revealing a significant loss of genes involved in DNA replication and DNA repair on the fast-evolving species. This in silico study provided a valuable dataset of insights that can be afterwards pursued to deepen the current knowledge about Hanseniaspora species, helping to foster their application in biotechnology. In particular, directions for future research, focused on validating the predicted functions for the species- and clade- specific proteins, are pointed out.

Authors in the community:

• 

  M

  Maria Teresa Marote Dias Galvão Ferreira

  ist195896

Supervisors of this institution:

• 

  N

  Nuno Gonçalo Pereira Mira

  ist148703

industrial-biotechnology - Industrial Biotechnology

eng - English

Instituto Superior Técnico