Genomics of Saccharomyces cerevisiae IMDO 050523 in combination with phylogenomics unravels signatures of adaptation to a West African fermented food lineage

The genome of Saccharomyces cerevisiae IMDO 050523, a strain isolated from a spontaneous cocoa fermentation process, was unraveled based on a combination of long- and short-read sequencing. The genome consisted of 16 nuclear chromosomes and a mitochondrial chromosome organized in 20 contigs. Saccharomyces cerevisiae IMDO 050523 contained genetic signatures that could point toward specific niche adaptations involved in sucrose hydrolysis, pectin degradation, osmotolerance, and conserved amino acid changes in key ester-producing enzymes.