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update to glycerol info
Unlike most genres of yeast, ''Brettanomyces'' has the characteristics of being very tolerant to harsh conditions, including high amounts of alcohol (up to 14.5-15% ABV <ref name="Crauwels1" /><ref name="Agnolucci_2017" />), a pH as low as 2 <ref>[http://www.winesandvines.com/template.cfm?section=news&content=141954 Wines and Vines. New Research on Role of Yeast in Winemaking; report on a presentation by David Mills and Lucy Joseph from UC Davis. 11/14/2014. Retrieved 08/16/2015.]</ref>, and environments with low nitrogen <ref name="Schifferdecker"></ref>. It has been reported that some strains require a very low concentration of fermentable sugars (less than 300 mg/L) and nitrogen (less than 6 mg/L), which is less than most wines contain <ref name="Smith_2017">[https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0740002017308249 The carbon consumption pattern of the spoilage yeast Brettanomyces bruxellensis in synthetic wine-like medium. Brendan D. Smith, Benoit Divol. 2017.]</ref>. This capability allows ''Brettanomyces'' to survive in alcoholic beverages such as beer, wine, and cider. In alcoholic beverages, ''B. bruxellensis'' tends to lag after the primary fermentation with ''Saccharomyces''. It is believed that during this lag phase, ''B. bruxellensis'' adapts to the harsh conditions of the beverage (low pH, high concentrations of ethanol, and limited sugar/nitrogen sources). After this lag phase, ''B. bruxellensis'' can grow and survive when no other yeasts can. ''Brettanomyces'' is also more resistant to pH and temperature changes, and tolerant of environments limited in oxygen (although ''Brettanomyces'' prefers the availability of at least a little bit of oxygen). Scientifically, which specific nitrogen and carbon sources ''B. bruxellensis'' uses in these stressful environments has not received much research <ref name="smith_divol_2016"></ref>.
''Brettanomyces'' is known for not producing much glycerol in beer. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glycerol Glycerol] is a colorless, sweet-tasting, viscous liquid that is an important contributor to the mouthfeel of beer. Glycerol is produced as a stress response by a wide range of microbes, including ''S. cerevisiae'', and various species and strains of ''Debaryomyces'', ''Candida'', ''Lachancea'', and ''Zygosaccharomyces''. Despite not producing amounts of glycerol that are perceivable in beer, some strains of ''Brettanomyces bruxellensis'' actually produce glycerol which is stored inside of their cells as a response to osmotic stress. They can also uptake glycerol into their cells. Doing so allows the cells to survive osmotic pressure <ref>[https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0740002013001251?via%3Dihub Osmotic stress response in the wine yeast Dekkera bruxellensis. Silvia Galafassi, Marco Toscano, Ileana Vigentin, Jure Piškur, Concetta Compagno. 2013.]</ref><ref>[https://academic.oup.com/femsle/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/femsle/fny020/4828327?redirectedFrom=fulltext Osmotolerance of Dekkera bruxellensis and the role of two Stl glycerol-proton symporters. Jana Zemančíková, Michala Dušková, Hana Elicharová, Klára Papoušková, Hana Sychrová. 2018</ref>. It is currently not known how many strains are capable of producing glycerol internally, or if this amount of glycerol has any impact on perceived mouthfeel of a beer if a substantial amount of ''Brettanomyces'' cells eentually autolyze (see [https://www.facebook.com/groups/MilkTheFunk/permalink/2003626776332193/ this MTF thread]). The role of glycerol in creating mouthfeel is debatable in the wine world <ref>[https://www.winesandvines.com/features/article/68760 Tim Patterson. "Many Roads to Mouthfeel". Wines & Vines Magazine. Nov 2009. Retrieved 03/23/2018.]</ref>.
The genetic diversity of ''Brettanomyces'' is particularly wide. Some studies have indicated that strains of ''B. bruxellensis'' have adapted to specific environments. For example, one study found that strains of ''B. bruxellensis'' isolated from wine had 20 genes involved in the metabolism of carbon and nitrogen, whereas strains isolated from beer did not. This indicated that ''B. bruxellensis'' strains living in wine have adapted to the harsher environment of wine <ref name="smith_divol_2016"></ref>. Another study found that one out of the two strains tested that were isolated from soda could not ferment maltose, and only strains isolated from wine were able to grow in wine and the beer/soda strains did not. The wine strains were also more resistant to sulfites, which are commonly used in the wine industry to prevent microbial contamination <ref name="Crauwels_2016" />.