''Wickerhamomyces anomalus'' is a species of

ascomycete Ascomycota is a phylum of the kingdom Fungi that, together with the Basidiomycota, forms the subkingdom Dikarya. Its members are commonly known as the sac fungi or ascomycetes. It is the largest phylum of Fungi, with over 64,000 species. The def ...

and

teleomorph In mycology, the terms teleomorph, anamorph, and holomorph apply to portions of the life cycles of fungi in the phyla Ascomycota and Basidiomycota: *Teleomorph: the sexual reproductive stage (morph), typically a fruiting body. *Anamorph: an ase ...

ic fungi of the genus ''

Wickerhamomyces ''Wickerhamomyces'' is a genus of fungi within the Saccharomycetales order. It is placed within the family of Phaffomycetaceae. Description The fungi has asexual reproduction and that budding is multilateral on a narrow base. The cells are sphe ...

''. It is used as a preventive (

biocontrol Biological control or biocontrol is a method of pest control, controlling pests, whether pest animals such as insects and mites, weeds, or pathogens affecting animals or phytopathology, plants by bioeffector, using other organisms. It relies o ...

agent) for undesirable fungi or mold, nevertheless it may spoil food in large quantities. It is used in wine making, airtight stored grain (preventing ''

Aspergillus flavus ''Aspergillus flavus'' is a saprotrophic and pathogenic fungus with a cosmopolitan distribution. It is best known for its colonization of cereal grains, legumes, and tree nuts. Postharvest rot typically develops during harvest, storage, and/or ...

aflatoxins Aflatoxins are various poisonous carcinogens and mutagens that are produced by certain molds, especially ''Aspergillus'' species such as ''Aspergillus flavus'' and ''Aspergillus parasiticus''. According to the USDA, "They are probably the best ...

), apples, and grapevines. ''P. anomala'' has been reclassified as ''

anomalus''.

Features

Distinguished from some other species of ''Pichia'' by high osmotolerance, ''P. anomala'' ferments

sucrose Sucrose, a disaccharide, is a sugar composed of glucose and fructose subunits. It is produced naturally in plants and is the main constituent of white sugar. It has the molecular formula . For human consumption, sucrose is extracted and refined ...

, and assimilates

raffinose Raffinose is a trisaccharide composed of galactose, glucose, and fructose. It can be found in beans, cabbage, brussels sprouts, broccoli, asparagus, other vegetables, and whole grains. Raffinose can be hydrolyzed to D-galactose and sucrose by th ...

. Does not exhibit

crabtree effect The Crabtree effect, named after the English biochemist Herbert Grace Crabtree, describes the phenomenon whereby the yeast, ''Saccharomyces cerevisiae'', produces ethanol (alcohol) in aerobic conditions at high external glucose concentrations rat ...

but rather

Pasteur effect The Pasteur effect describes how available oxygen inhibits ethanol fermentation, driving yeast to switch toward aerobic respiration for increased generation of the energy carrier adenosine triphosphate (ATP). More generally, in the medical liter ...

Products

ethanol Ethanol (also called ethyl alcohol, grain alcohol, drinking alcohol, or simply alcohol) is an organic compound with the chemical formula . It is an Alcohol (chemistry), alcohol, with its formula also written as , or EtOH, where Et is the ps ...

under anaerobiosis *

acetate An acetate is a salt formed by the combination of acetic acid with a base (e.g. alkaline, earthy, metallic, nonmetallic, or radical base). "Acetate" also describes the conjugate base or ion (specifically, the negatively charged ion called ...

under respiratory and respirofermentative growth. *

ethyl acetate Ethyl acetate commonly abbreviated EtOAc, ETAC or EA) is the organic compound with the formula , simplified to . This flammable, colorless liquid has a characteristic sweet smell (similar to pear drops) and is used in glues, nail polish removers, ...

from glucose under oxygen limitation, also other small volatiles, e.g., ethyl propanoate, phenyl ethanol, and 2-phenylethyl acetate. *

glycerol Glycerol () is a simple triol compound. It is a colorless, odorless, sweet-tasting, viscous liquid. The glycerol backbone is found in lipids known as glycerides. It is also widely used as a sweetener in the food industry and as a humectant in pha ...

, arabinitol, and

trehalose Trehalose (from Turkish '' tıgala'' – a sugar derived from insect cocoons + -ose) is a sugar consisting of two molecules of glucose. It is also known as mycose or tremalose. Some bacteria, fungi, plants and invertebrate animals synthesize it ...

under

osmotic stress Osmotic shock or osmotic stress is physiologic dysfunction caused by a sudden change in the solute concentration around a cell, which causes a rapid change in the movement of water across its cell membrane. Under hypertonic conditions - conditi ...

and oxygen limitation.

References

Viticulture Saccharomycetaceae Yeasts Yeasts used in brewing {{Ascomycota-stub