Christopher Curtin

Assistant Professor
christopher.curtin [at] oregonstate.edu

Office: 541-737-1599
Fax: 541-737-1877

Wiegand Hall

Wiegand Hall 232B

3051 SW Campus Way

3051 SW Campus Way
Corvallis, OR 97331

Fermentation Microbiology

My laboratory’s focus is on the role of microbes in alcoholic beverage fermentation, with emphasis on brewing microbiology. I am interested in how the species that we use today to make beer, wine, cider and ethanol have evolved, and to what extent the same evolutionary forces have shaped the microbial ecology and genomes of other microbes found in these production environments. This knowledge can then be used to develop novel brewing starter cultures and management practices that improve microbial stability.

Profile Field Tabs

At OSU
Affiliated with: 
Food Science and Techno
Career Links: 
Department of Food Science & Technology
My Publications
Google Scholar

2015

Journal Article

C. D. Curtin, Varela, C., and Borneman, A. R., “Harnessing improved understanding of B rettanomyces bruxellensis biology to mitigate the risk of wine spoilage”, Australian journal of grape and wine research, vol. 21, pp. 680–692, 2015.
P. J. Chambers, Borneman, A. R., Varela, C., Cordente, A. G., ,, Tran, T. M. T., Henschke, P. A., and Curtin, C. D., “Ongoing domestication of wine yeast: past, present and future”, Australian journal of grape and wine research, vol. 21, pp. 642–650, 2015.
A. G. Cordente, Capone, D. L., and Curtin, C. D., “Unravelling glutathione conjugate catabolism in Saccharomyces cerevisiae: the role of glutathione/dipeptide transporters and vacuolar function in the release of volatile sulfur compounds 3-mercaptohexan-1-ol and 4-mercapto-4-methylpentan-2-one.”, Appl Microbiol Biotechnol, vol. 99, no. 22, pp. 9709-22, 2015.
A. Contreras, Curtin, C. D., and Varela, C., “Yeast population dynamics reveal a potential 'collaboration' between Metschnikowia pulcherrima and Saccharomyces uvarum for the production of reduced alcohol wines during Shiraz fermentation.”, Appl Microbiol Biotechnol, vol. 99, no. 4, pp. 1885-95, 2015.

2014

Journal Article

W. Albertin, Panfili, A., Miot-Sertier, C., Goulielmakis, A., Delcamp, A., Salin, F., Lonvaud-Funel, A., Curtin, C. D., and Masneuf-Pomarede, I., “Development of microsatellite markers for the rapid and reliable genotyping of Brettanomyces bruxellensis at strain level.”, Food Microbiol, vol. 42, pp. 188-95, 2014.
G. Winter, Cordente, A. G., and Curtin, C. D., “Formation of hydrogen sulfide from cysteine in Saccharomyces cerevisiae BY4742: genome wide screen reveals a central role of the vacuole.”, PLoS One, vol. 9, no. 12, p. e113869, 2014.
C. D. Curtin and Pretorius, I. S., “Genomic insights into the evolution of industrial yeast species Brettanomyces bruxellensis.”, FEMS Yeast Res, vol. 14, no. 7, pp. 997-1005, 2014.
A. R. Borneman, Zeppel, R., Chambers, P. J., and Curtin, C. D., “Insights into the Dekkera bruxellensis genomic landscape: comparative genomics reveals variations in ploidy and nutrient utilisation potential amongst wine isolates.”, PLoS Genet, vol. 10, no. 2, p. e1004161, 2014.

2013

Journal Article

C. D. Curtin, Langhans, G., Henschke, P. A., and Grbin, P. R., “Impact of Australian Dekkera bruxellensis strains grown under oxygen-limited conditions on model wine composition and aroma.”, Food Microbiol, vol. 36, no. 2, pp. 241-7, 2013.
A. G. Cordente, Cordero-Bueso, G., Pretorius, I. S., and Curtin, C. D., “Novel wine yeast with mutations in YAP1 that produce less acetic acid during fermentation.”, FEMS Yeast Res, vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 62-73, 2013.

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