Comprehensive Review of Indigenous Yeast Species in Korea: A Literature and Culture Collection Analysis

Chorong Ahn1   Minkyeong Kim1   Changmu Kim2,*   

1Microorganism Resources Division, National Institute of Biological Resources, Incheon 22689, Korea
2Biological and Genetic Resources Assessment Division, National Institute of Biological Resources, Incheon 22689, Korea

Abstract

Indigenous yeasts in Korea have been actively studied since 1910 in light of various fields, including environment, food fermentation, brewing, and medicine. However, a complete list of indigenous yeast species has not been addressed or reported. In this study, a comprehensive analysis of the literature including yeast isolation from Korean materials and the strains preserved at culture collections was performed. The results of this study indicate the following: ⅰ) there are 128 genera and 681 species (including 26 variants) of yeast reported in Korea, ⅱ) the reported species were trimmed into 142 genera and 500 species (including 9 variants), ⅲ) among which only 166 species were registered in the National Species List of Korea (2020). Therefore, follow-up studies are required to register more indigenous yeast species in the National Species List of Korea.

Figures & Tables

Fig. 1. Type and number of yeast studies published by period