Stably inherited killer activity in industrial yeast strains obtained by electrotransformation

Killer-sensitive strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Saccharomyces carlsbergensis were transformed by electroinjection using double-stranded RNA isolated from a superkiller strain. Various recipient strains were used: both thermo-resistant and thermo-sensitive as well as mutants of industrial strains. Conversion of respiratory competent (rho+) into respiratory deficient (rho-) strains (mutants) resulted in a significant increase of the yield of electrotransformants and/or of longterm killer stability. Electrotransformation of rho- mutants of distillery and brewery strains resulted in more than 100 clones, which exhibited weak or strong killer activity over some or all of the experimental period of 10 months.