Biotech Updates

Yeast Strains to be Sequenced to Unlock their Potential

October 14, 2015

A new partnership between the UK National Collection of Yeast Cultures (NCYC) and The Genome Analysis Centre (TGAC) is working to sequence a collection of yeast strains to unlock their potential to produce biofuels and other chemicals more sustainably. The partnership will sequence the genomes of all the ~4,000 strains of yeast in NCYC.

Dr. Ian Roberts, NCYC Curator, said that the special capabilities of each yeast strain, whether in baking, brewing, biorefining, or surviving in extreme conditions, can now – for the first time – be compared to its genome, thereby enabling the genetic basis of its talents to be uncovered. This rich new data cache will enable academic and industrial researchers to maximize the potential of currently available yeast strains and develop hyper-efficient strains with even better properties.

The yeast datasets are available for download at the NCYC website. For more details about this project, read the news release at the Institute of Food Research website.