Montpellier Scientific Community



Sciences for Oenology (SPO)

Director: Guy ALBAGNAC
Website :
Research area
RU Sciences for Oenology (SPO) main themes cover (i) the integrative biology of industrial yeasts, and the control of alcoholic fermentation, (ii) the structure, physico-chemistry and interactions of phenolic compounds and (iii) the biosynthesis of flavonoids and its regulation. Close interactions with Pech Rouge Experimental Unit (UE 999) makes it possible to conduct research projects at pilot and pre-industrial (fermentation, fractioning of grape components, stabilization of Wine...) and forms a unique structure in terms of innovation and transfer.
Research highlights
Metabolic engineering and functional genomics of industrial yeast strains
Modeling and control of alcoholic fermentation
Interactions and molecular assemblies involving polyphenols and their effect on the sensory attributes (colour, astringency) and colloïdal stability of wines
Staff profile
Total permanent staff
Total Scientists*
Scientists with "HDR" [1]
Post-doc fellows
PhD
73
30
15
5
16
*Scientists per member institution: 1CNRS, 18 INRA, 7 Montpellier SupAgro, 4 UM I
[1]French university degree for confirmed thesis supervisor
Research teams
  • Polyphenols
  • Microbiology
Platforms and other tools
  • Structural analysis of Polyphenols platform
  • Volatile compounds analysis
  • Sensory analysis
  • Proteomics and bioinformatics
Most important international partnerships
AWRI, Adelaide, Australia (E. Waters)
UC Davis, Ca, USA (A. Waterhouse)
Dept of Chemistry, University of New Orleans, USA, (R.B. Cole)
Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium (D. Dochain)
Institute of Molecular Systems Biology, Zurich, Suisse (U. Sauer)
Facts and figures
Publications in international ranking journals
2007: 30
2006: 26
2005: 33
Representative publications
Camarasa, C., V. Faucet, et al. (2007). "Role in anaerobiosis of the isoenzymes for Saccharomyces cerevisiae fumarate reductase encoded by OSM1 and FRDS1." Yeast 24(5): 391-401.
Guillaume, C., P. Delobel, et al. (2007). "Molecular basis of fructose utilization by the wine yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae: a mutated HXT3 allele enhances fructose fermentation." Applied and Environmental Microbiology 73(8): 2432-2439.
Mané, C., N. Sommerer, et al. (2007). "Assessment of the molecular weight distribution of tannin fractions through MALDI-TOF MS analysis of protein-tannin complexes." Analytical Chemistry 79(6): 2239-2248.
Pascal, C., C. Poncet-Legrand, et al. (2007). "Interactions between a non glycosylated human proline-rich protein and flavan-3-ols are affected by protein concentration and polyphenol/protein ratio." Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 55(12): 4895-4901.
Pourcel, L., J.-M. Routaboul, et al. (2007). "Flavonoid oxidation in plants: From biochemical properties to physiological functions." Trends in Plant Science 12(1): 29-36.
Preys, S., E. Vigneau, et al. (2007). "Multivariate prototype approach for authentication of food products." Chemometrics and Intelligent Laboratory Systems 87: 200-207.