Mechanisms Involved in Interspecific Communication between Wine Yeasts

In parallel with the development of non-Saccharomyces starter cultures in oenology, a growing interest has developed around the interactions between the microorganisms involved in the transformation of grape must into wine. Nowadays, it is widely accepted that the outcome of a fermentation process involving two or more inoculated yeast species will be different from the weighted average of the corresponding individual cultures. Interspecific interactions between wine yeasts take place on several levels, including interference competition, exploitation competition, exchange of metabolic intermediates, and others. Some interactions could be a simple consequence of each yeast running its own metabolic programme in a context where metabolic intermediates and end products from other yeasts are present. However, there are clear indications, in some cases, of specific recognition between interacting yeasts. In this article we discuss the mechanisms that may be involved in the communication between wine yeasts during alcoholic fermentation.