Pichia kudriavzevii as a representative yeast of North Patagonian winemaking terroir

• Both genetic and physiologic features of P. kudriavzevii isolates were evaluated.
• A distinct North Patagonian population of P. kudriavzevii was observed.
• North Patagonian wild and wine isolates of P. kudriavzevii were closely related.
• Pichia kudriavzevii could be associated with North Patagonian wine terroir.

Terroir concept includes specific soil, topography, climate, landscape characteristics and biodiversity features. In reference to the last aspect, recent studies investigating the microbial biogeography (lately called ‘microbial terroir’) have revealed that different wine-growing regions maintain different microbial communities. The aim of the present work was to identify potential autochthonous fermentative yeasts isolated from native plants in North Patagonia, Schinus johnstonii, Ephedra ochreata and Lycium chilense, that could be associated to the specific vitivinicultural terroir of this region. Different Pichia kudriavzevii isolates were recovered from these plants and physiologically and genetically compared to regional wine isolates and foreign reference strains of the same species. All isolates were subjected to molecular characterization including mtDNA-RFLP, RAPD-PCR and sequence analysis. Both wine and native P. kudriavzevii isolates from Patagonia showed similar features, different from those showed by foreign strains, suggesting that this species could be part of a specific regional terroir from North Patagonia.