Genetically engineered Oenococcus oeni strains to highlight the impact of estA2 and estA7 esterase genes on wine ester profile

Besides deacidifying wine, Oenococcus oeni bring significant changes in the chemical composition of wine by releasing esters by the action of their own esterases. The impact of O. oeni esterases remains relatively unexplored. Four esterase genes were identified from O. oeni genome (estA2, estA7, estC, and estB). The dual objective of this study was, first to use a genetic tool enabling the expression of esterase genes in enological conditions and, second, to investigate the impact of O. oeni esterase gene expression during winemaking on wine aromatic profile. Both estA2 and estA7 genes were successfully cloned and expressed in O. oeni and recombinant strains were inoculated in Aligoté wine to initiate malolactic fermentation (MLF). Ester profile of experimental wine was established by SPME-GC-MS. EstA2 caused significant decreases in the concentrations of isoamyl acetate, ethyl hexanoate, isobutyl acetate, and hexyl acetate, by 42.7%, 23.4%, 51.5%, and 28.9%, respectively. EstA2 has preferential hydrolytic activity toward acetate esters from higher alcohols. EstA7 has synthetic activity toward hexyl acetate with a significant 22.7% increase. This study reports the first efficient expression system enabling the production of a functional protein in O. oeni in enological conditions.