Yeast Biotechnology 6.0

Yeasts are truly fascinating microorganisms. Due to their diverse and dynamic activities, they have been used to produce many interesting products, such as beer, wine, bread, biofuels, and biopharmaceuticals. Saccharomyces cerevisiae (bakers’ yeast) is likely the most human-exploited yeast species. Saccharomyces is a popular choice for industrial applications, and its use in beer production dates back to at least the 6th millennium BC. Bakers’ yeast represents a cornerstone of modern biotechnology, enabling the development of efficient production processes for antibiotics, biopharmaceuticals, technical enzymes, and ethanol and biofuels. Today, more diverse yeast species are being explored for industrial applications, e.g., the Saccharomyces cerevisiae, S. cerevisiae bayanus, Pichia pastoris (Komagataella phaffii), Saccharomycopsis fermentans, Wickerhamomyces anomalus, and Candida species. This instalment — “Yeast Biotechnology 6.0” — continues the “Yeast Biotechnology” Special Issue series of the MDPI journal Fermentation. This issue highlights the current prominent research directions in the fields of yeasts as a cell factory, yeast nanobiotechnology, wine yeasts and wine fermentation, yeasts and food fermentation, and biocontainment for yeast biotechnology.