Activity

The evolution and spread of microorganisms are interconnected processes, influence each other and being influenced by multiple factors. The detailed knowledge of these processes permits the control, preventing or favoring, of the presence of microorganisms and is at the basis of the identification of conditions involved in the onset of relevant characteristics, as in the case of the now known relationship between prolonged use of antimicrobial compounds and the acquisition of resistance mechanisms by microorganisms. Unfortunately, the information currently available on the evolution and spread of many microorganisms is only partial or superficial.

A particularly representative case of this situation is that of brewer's yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Although this yeast has been exploited for centuries by humans for the production of fermented drinks and foods and studied for decades as a model for obtaining information on molecular mechanisms shared with higher organisms, so much so that it deserved the name of "honorary mammal", only in the the last decade we have started understanding its evolution and diffusion in natural environments. A fundamental, although unexpected, role in these processes is played by social insects, which favor the maintenance, diffusion, but also the evolution of beer yeast in natural environments. Our group continues to delve into the details of this particular association between yeast and insect and to explore new factors and environments potentially relevant in the evolution of yeasts and other microorganisms.