Presenter: Jasper Akerboom, HHMI, Janelia Farm Research
Campus, Ashburn, VA
Coauthors: Jonathan S. Marvin, Benjamin Basanta, and Loren
L. Looger, HHMI, Janelia Farm Research Campus, Ashburn,
VA; Matthew Hagerman, Lost Rhino Brewing Company,
Ashburn, VA
The most routine measurements performed in the brewing
industry are gravity measurements of unfermented wort and
(fermenting) beer. These measurements give the brewer a value,
expressed either as Plato, Brix, or dimensionless (specific
gravity). This value is directly related to the percentage of
extract per weight of the liquid (mainly the concentration of
dissolved carbohydrates) and is an essential parameter to assess
the status and potential of the product. However, this value
is a sum of several different compounds and does not give
insight into the actual composition and concentration of each
fermentable sugar in the wort or beer. Worts giving identical
gravity readings can differ widely in composition, due to use
of different malts, adjuncts, and mashing regimes. Current
methods (HPLC, enzymatic assays, biosensors) to determine
wort and beer composition are expensive and laborious. Here,
we will present a complete set of protein-based fluorescent
biosensors to measure wort sugars. Each of these has a high
affinity for either glucose, maltose, or maltotriose—the three
most abundant carbohydrates in wort. We will describe the
design and development of these biosensors in detail and give
examples of commercial applications. These sensors give direct
accurate insight into wort composition and fermentability
potential, are less laborious to use than current HPLC and
enzymatic assays, and show great promise for the commercial
brewing industry.
Jasper Akerboom received his B.S. degree in molecular
sciences from Wageningen University in The Netherlands.
During his following M.S. research, he worked for a year
at Sheffield University, U.K., on the crystallization and
structure determination of proteins involved in glycolysis and
gluconeogenesis in the lab of David W. Rice. Afterward, he
returned to Wageningen University and joined the lab of John
van der Oost in the Department of Microbiology and identified
and characterized the gluconeogenic enzyme fructose-1,6-
bisphosphatase from the hyperthermophile Pyrococcus
furiosus. He stayed with the Department of Microbiology at
Wageningen University for his Ph.D. research, where he studied
enzymes and structural, binding, and regulatory proteins
involved in carbohydrate metabolism in hyperthermophilic
life under the supervision of Willem M. de Vos and John van
der Oost. After receiving his Ph.D. degree in food science
and nutrition in 2007, he joined the lab of Loren L. Looger at
Howard Hughes Medical Institute in Ashburn, VA, where he
was responsible for the development of fluorescent biosensors
for in vivo brain activity detection. Since January 2013, he is
also a part-time laboratory manager at Lost Rhino Brewing
Company in Ashburn, VA. Jasper has published more than 30
peer-reviewed articles and book chapters.
