CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 4Microbial Metabolic Engineering and BioproductionFungal and yeast genetics researchYeasts and Rust Fungi Studies

Metabolic versatility of the Wickerhamiella/Starmerella yeast clade: from sugar utilization to lipid metabolism

Open access
Vandeputte, Meriam, Diependaele, Emma, Van Bogaert, Inge Noëlle Adriënne·2025·FEMS Yeast Research
DOI 10.1093/femsyr/foaf048PMC PMC12461148
Open this paper in CoChat — free accountOpen PDF

Abstract

The Wickerhamiella/Starmerella (W/S) yeast clade has recently gained attention as a "treasure trove" of metabolic diversity, characterized by unusual pathways shaped through complex evolutionary events. One of their most distinctive traits is their specialized sugar metabolism, which allows them to thrive in sugar-rich environments. While their role in sugar utilization is well established, emerging evidence suggests that some W/S species can also metabolize hydrophobic compounds, indicating a broader capacity for lipid-related processes. For instance, several W/S species produce sophorolipids (SLs)-a class of glycolipids with commercial applications as sustainable biosurfactants. This ability has sparked growing interest in their potential to synthesize a diverse range of lipids, including glycolipids and dicarboxylic acids. This mini-review explores the evolution and distinctive metabolic features of the W/S clade, focusing not only on its well-characterized sugar metabolism but also on its lesser-known lipid metabolism. Particular attention is given to SL production and the expansion and diversity of cytochrome P450 family 52 enzymes within this underexplored group, emphasizing their biotechnological potential in lipid biosynthesis and their promising applications in sustainable bioprocesses.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1093/femsyr/foaf048

Cites

61 of 61 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Wickerhamiella mostly lost fermentation ability and specialized in the utilization of a narrow spectrum of carbohydrates, relying on intracellular sucrose metabolism.

    “Starmerella is considered more as a resource specialist organised in microbial consortia, capable of utilising a broad spectrum of carbohydrates, easily switching between respiration and fermentation (reacquired in most species) depending on sugar and oxygen access whereas Wickerhammiella mostly lost fermentation ability and specialized in the utilization of a narrow spectrum of carbohydrates, rel”

    From Mitochondrial retrograde control of transcription evolves with respiratory stress, metabolic adaptation, and virulence in budding yeasts (2026) · cites this paper as Vandeputte et al. 2025

    The Conclusion says Wickerhamiella uses a narrower range of carbohydrates and relies on intracellular sucrose metabolism. But the Sugar metabolism section describes its fermentative capacity as variable, ranging from robust restoration to none; it does not establish that most species have lost that ability. (LLM, conf=0.86)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • These yeasts underwent dynamic evolution with extensive gene gains (including HGT events) and losses, including lost capability of alcoholic fermentation.

    “They underwent dynamic evolution with extensive gene gains (including HGT events) and losses, including lost capability of alcoholic fermentation (Vandeputte et al. 2025).”

    From Mitochondrial retrograde control of transcription evolves with respiratory stress, metabolic adaptation, and virulence in budding yeasts (2026) · cites this paper as Vandeputte et al. 2025

  • Starmerella is considered a resource specialist organised in microbial consortia, capable of utilising a broad spectrum of carbohydrates, easily switching between respiration and fermentation depending on sugar and oxygen access.

    “Starmerella is considered more as a resource specialist organised in microbial consortia, capable of utilising a broad spectrum of carbohydrates, easily switching between respiration and fermentation (reacquired in most species) depending on sugar and oxygen access whereas Wickerhammiella mostly lost fermentation ability and specialized in the utilization of a narrow spectrum of carbohydrates, rel”

    From Mitochondrial retrograde control of transcription evolves with respiratory stress, metabolic adaptation, and virulence in budding yeasts (2026) · cites this paper as Vandeputte et al. 2025

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 2

  1. Gonçalves C, Wisecaver JH, Kominek J et al. Evidence for loss and reacquisition of alcoholic fermentation in a fructophilic yeast lineage. eLife. 2018; 7: e33034. 10.7554/eLife.33034.001. 29648535 PMC5897096 · DOI
  2. National Information Center for Biotechnology (NCBI). ORF finder. 2025. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/orffinder

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Related

Authors
Vandeputte, M., Diependaele, E., & Van Bogaert, I. N. A.
Affiliations
  • Ghent University (BE)
  • Ghent University Centre for Synthetic Biology, Department of Biotechnology, , Ghent 9000 ,
ORCID
Venue
FEMS Yeast Research
Publisher
Oxford University Press (OUP)
Published
2025
Volume
25
ISSN
  • 1567-1356 (ISSN-L)
  • 1567-1364
DOI
10.1093/femsyr/foaf048
PMC
PMC12461148
OpenAlex
W4414002992
Cited by
4
References
61
Citations by year
2026: 3 · 2025: 1
FWCI
0.35
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • FEMS Yeast Research (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • Ghent University Academic Bibliography (Ghent University) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
Funders
FWO (1SHB024N)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Microbial Metabolic Engineering and Bioproduction
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Fungal and yeast genetics research
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Yeasts and Rust Fungi Studies
Keywords
sugar metabolism, lipid metabolism, sophorolipids, biosurfactants, glycolipids, dicarboxylic acids, metabolic evolution, lipogenesis, bioprocess applications
MeSH terms
Sugars, Saccharomycetales, Glycolipids, Oleic Acids, Carbohydrate Metabolism, Lipid Metabolism, Metabolic Networks and Pathways

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review