Dong Weiwei, Peng Yaxuan, Ma Jiyuan, Hu Yuanliang, Chen Shenxi, Zhao Shumiao
Hubei Key Laboratory of Edible Wild Plants Conservation and Utilization, College of Life Sciences, Hubei Normal University, Huangshi, China.
Hubei Key Laboratory of Quality and Safety of Traditional Chinese Medicine Health Food, Jing Brand Co., Ltd., Daye, China.
Front Microbiol. 2025 Aug 18;16:1652173. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2025.1652173. eCollection 2025.
Baijiu is a traditional distilled liquor unique to China. Its distinctive flavor is shaped by the synergistic activity of complex microbial communities, among which yeasts play a central role in sugar metabolism, ethanol fermentation, and aroma synthesis. In recent years, the advancement of isolation and cultivation techniques, high-throughput sequencing, metagenomics, and multi-omics technologies has deepened our understanding of yeast community compositions, succession patterns, and functional characteristics during Baijiu brewing. Among these, was recognized as the core ethanol-producing species and has been extensively studied for its metabolic traits and stress tolerance in Baijiu fermentation. Studies have shown that, in addition to , non- yeasts such as , , , , and et al. are widely distributed across strong-, sauce-, and light-flavor Baijiu and their respective starters (Daqu), exhibiting robust ester-producing capacities and stress resistance. These yeasts occupy distinct ecological niches throughout fermentation stages and engage in dynamic and environment-dependent interactions with lactic acid bacteria, molds, and other microbes. This review systematically summarizes yeast diversity, community structure, metabolic traits, key functional genes, microecological interactions, recent discoveries of novel yeast species, and advances in genetic engineering in Baijiu brewing. It further highlights future research priorities, including multi-omics integration, functional exploration of non- yeasts, and synthetic biology-guided strain development, with the goal of supporting high-quality and intelligent Baijiu production.
白酒是中国特有的传统蒸馏酒。其独特风味由复杂微生物群落的协同活动塑造而成，其中酵母在糖代谢、乙醇发酵和香气合成中发挥核心作用。近年来，分离培养技术、高通量测序、宏基因组学和多组学技术的进步加深了我们对白酒酿造过程中酵母群落组成、演替模式和功能特性的理解。其中，[具体酵母名称]被认为是核心产乙醇菌种，并已针对其在白酒发酵中的代谢特性和胁迫耐受性进行了广泛研究。研究表明，除了[具体酵母名称]之外，诸如[其他酵母名称]等非[具体酵母名称]酵母广泛分布于浓香型、酱香型和清香型白酒及其各自的酒曲（大曲）中，表现出强大的产酯能力和抗逆性。这些酵母在整个发酵阶段占据不同的生态位，并与乳酸菌、霉菌和其他微生物进行动态的、依赖环境的相互作用。本综述系统总结了白酒酿造中酵母的多样性、群落结构、代谢特性、关键功能基因、微生态相互作用、新型酵母物种的最新发现以及基因工程进展。它进一步强调了未来的研究重点，包括多组学整合、非[具体酵母名称]酵母的功能探索以及合成生物学指导的菌株开发，目标是支持高品质和智能化白酒生产。
