The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae possesses a finite replicative lifespan—each individual cell is capable of only a limited number of divisions before the onset of senescence and, finally, death. Methods to investigate the aging process in laboratory yeast strains have been developed but have never been applied to the less genetically tractable brewing yeasts. Therefore, the effects of cellular aging on fermentation performance are not known. Characterization of the aging profile of a lager yeast strain and age-related changes in cellular morphology are reported here. It is suggested that aging and senescence of yeast cells may play a role in “hung fermentations” and related problems sometimes experienced by the brewing industry.
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Barker et al. (1996) studied this question.
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