Tommaso Watson

Dr Tommaso Watson

School of Agriculture, Food and Wine

College of Science

I specialise in Wine and Beer fermentation science. Microbial activities have contributed in shaping these alcoholic beverages thought the history of modern civilisation, to the current commercial product. Scientific progress allowed a better understanding of the role of yeast and bacteria in these process, providing knowledge and tools to create a desirable product. The focus of my research is to generate and identify microbial strains suitable for the purpose of modern winemaking and brewing, with improved technological and sensorial characteristics. To achieve so, techniques that do not involved direct manipulation of the genome are used. The novel phenotypes obtained will show improvement of specific traits whilst aiming to preserve the positive original characteristics of the original strains. To help in this difficult task of screening through thousands of candidates mutants, I have been developing new robotic equipment, which empower this research with added capabilities.

Date Position Institution name
2014 - 2016 Lecturer in Industrial Microbiology The Univeristy of Adelaide
2010 - ongoing Postdoctoral Research Fellow Univeristy of Adelaide
2001 - 2008 Winemaker Italian and Australian Wineries

Language Competency
English Can read, write, speak, understand spoken and peer review
Italian Can read, write, speak, understand spoken and peer review

Date Institution name Country Title
2014 Deakin University Australia BEHon (Mechatronics)
2007 - 2010 The University of Adelaide Australia PhD Wine Microbiology
2004 - 2005 The University of Florence Italy MSc Oenology
2000 - 2002 The Univeristy of Pisa Italy BSc Viticulture and Oenology

Date Title Institution name Country
2013 Mash Brewing TAFE Australia
2011 Floor Warden Training Chubb Fire & Security Australia

Year Citation
2022 Walker, M. E., Watson, T. L., Large, C. R. L., Berkovich, Y., Lang, T. A., Dunham, M. J., . . . Jiranek, V. (2022). Directed evolution as an approach to increase fructose utilisation in synthetic grape juice by wine yeast AWRI 796. FEMS Yeast Research, 22(1), 1-17.
DOI Scopus11 WoS10 Europe PMC5
2021 Lyons, S. M., Morgan, S. C., McCann, S., Sanderson, S., Newman, B. L., Watson, T. L., . . . Zandberg, W. F. (2021). Unique volatile chemical profiles produced by indigenous and commercial strains of Saccharomyces uvarum and Saccharomyces cerevisiae during laboratory-scale Chardonnay fermentations. Oeno One, 55(3), 101-122.
DOI Scopus8 WoS7
2021 Van Holst Pellekaan, N., Walker, M., Watson, T., & Jiranek, V. (2021). 'TeeBot': A High Throughput Robotic Fermentation and Sampling System. Fermentation, 7(4), 205-1-205-11.
DOI Scopus4 WoS3
2014 Walker, M., Nguyen, T., Liccioli, T., Schmid, F., Kalatzis, N., Sundstrom, J., . . . Jiranek, V. (2014). Genome-wide identification of the Fermentome; genes required for successful and timely completion of wine-like fermentation by Saccharomyces cerevisiae. BMC Genomics, 15(1), 552-1-552-17.
DOI Scopus49 WoS45 Europe PMC31
2014 Jiranek, V., Walker, M., Gardner, J., Sundstrom, J., & Liccioli, T. (2014). Tackling microbial failure in problematic wine fermentations using a holistic approach. Australian and New Zealand Grapegrower and Winemaker, (603), 76-79.
2013 Liccioli, T., Walker, M. E., Sundstrom, J. F., Gardner, J. M., & Jiranek, V. (2013). Novel wine yeast for improved performance in fermentation. Wine and Viticulture Journal, 28(6), 26, 28, 30-31, 33.
2011 Liccioli, T., Chambers, P., & Jiranek, V. (2011). A novel methodology independent of fermentation rate for assessment of the fructophilic character of wine yeast strains. Journal of Industrial Microbiology & Biotechnology, 38(7), 833-843.
DOI Scopus15 WoS12 Europe PMC9
2011 Liccioli, T., Tran, T., Cozzolino, D., Jiranek, V., Chambers, P., & Schmidt, S. (2011). Microvinification - how small can we go?. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, 89(5), 1621-1628.
DOI Scopus30 WoS28 Europe PMC18

Year Citation
2016 Peter, J. J., Watson, T., Walker, M., Gardner, J. M., & Jiranek, V. (2016). Identification of wine yeast genes influencing fermentation duration under limited nitrogen conditions. Poster session presented at the meeting of The 16th Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference. Adelaide, Australia.
2015 Peter, J. J., Watson, T., Walker, M. E., Gardner, J. M., & Jiranek, V. (2015). Screening for wine yeast mutants, whereby gene deletion results in faster fermentation under limited nitrogen conditions. Poster session presented at the meeting of Australasian conference on Yeast: Products and Discovery. Adelaide.
2014 Peter, J. J., Watson, T., Walker, M., & Jiranek, V. (2014). Use of prototrophic deletion library as a tool to identify genes related to nitrogen assimilation. Poster session presented at the meeting of ISSY31: 31st International Specialised Symposium on Yeast. Slovenia.
2014 Peter, J. J., Watson, T., Walker, M., & Jiranek, V. (2014). Deletion library as a tool to identify genes related to nitrogen assimilation. Poster session presented at the meeting of Crush 2014. Adelaide, Australia.
2014 Peter, J. J., Watson, T., Walker, M., & Jiranek, V. (2014). Use of prototrophic deletion library as a tool to identify genes related to nitrogen assimilation. Poster session presented at the meeting of AgPogs: Postgraduate symposium 2014. Adelaide, Australia.

Year Citation
2015 Walker, M. E., & Liccioli, T. (2015). Incubator initiative: Mapping of genes responsible for yeast-derived modulation of colour in model red wine (UA1405). The University of Adelaide.

Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name
2014 - 2017 Co-Supervisor Identification of Yeast Genes Enabling Efficient Oenological Fermentation under Nitrogen-limited Conditions Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Dr Josephine Jasmine Peter
2013 - 2018 External Supervisor Seawater Systems for Sustainable Development: Evaluation of a Marine Microalgal Strain as Biomass Feedstock for Hypersaline Bioethanol Production Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Part Time Mr Quang Cong Doan

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