Mating of 2 Laboratory Saccharomyces cerevisiae Strains Resulted in Enhanced Production of 2-Phenylethanol by Biotransformation of L-Phenylalanine

2-Phenylethanol (2-PE) is an aromatic alcohol with a rosy scent which is widely used in the food, fragrance, and cosmetic industries. Promising sources of natural 2-PE are microorganisms, especially yeasts, which can produce 2-PE by biosynthesis and biotransformation. Thus, the first challenging goal in the development of biotechnological production of 2-PE is searching for highly productive yeast strains. In the present work, 5 laboratory Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains were tested for the production of 2-PE. Thereafter, 2 of them were hybridized by a mating procedure and, as a result, a new diploid, S. cerevisiae AM1-d, was selected. Within the 72-h batch culture in a medium containing 5 g/L of L-phenylalanine, AM1-d produced 3.83 g/L of 2-PE in a shaking flask. In this way, we managed to select the diploid S. cerevisiae AM1-d strain, showing a 3- and 5-fold increase in 2-PE production in comparison to parental strains. Remarkably, the enhanced production of 2-PE by the hybrid of 2 yeast laboratory strains is demonstrated here for the first time