Unraveling microbial ecology of industrial-scale Kombucha fermentations by metabarcoding and culture-based methods.

Kombucha, historically an Asian tea-based fermented drink, has recently become trendy in Western countries. Producers claim it bears health-enhancing properties that may come from the tea or metabolites produced by its microbiome. Despite its long history of production, microbial richness and dynamics have not been fully unraveled, especially at an industrial scale. Moreover, the impact of tea type (green or black) on microbial ecology was not studied. Here, we compared microbial communities from industrial-scale black and green tea fermentations, still traditionally carried out by a microbial biofilm, using culture-dependent and metabarcoding approaches. Dominant bacterial species belonged to Acetobacteraceae and to a lesser extent Lactobacteriaceae, while the main identified yeasts corresponded to Dekkera, Hanseniaspora and Zygosaccharomyces during all fermentations. Species richness decreased over the 8-day fermentation. Among acetic acid bacteria, Gluconacetobacter europaeus, Gluconobacter oxydans, G. saccharivorans and Acetobacter peroxydans emerged as dominant species. The main lactic acid bacteria, Oenococcus oeni, was strongly associated with green tea fermentations. Tea type did not influence yeast community, with Dekkera bruxellensis, D. anomala, Zygosaccharomyces bailii and Hanseniaspora valbyensis as most dominant. This study unraveled a distinctive core microbial community which is essential for fermentation control and could lead to Kombucha quality standardization.

Identification of acetic acid bacteria in traditionally produced vinegar and mother of vinegar by using different molecular techniques.

Culture-dependent and culture-independent methods were combined for the investigation of acetic acid bacteria (AAB) populations in traditionally produced vinegars and mother of vinegar samples obtained from apple and grape. The culture-independent denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) analysis, which targeted the V7-V8 regions of the 16S rRNA gene, showed that Komagataeibacter hansenii and Komagataeibacter europaeus/Komagataeibacter xylinus were the most dominant species in almost all of the samples analyzed directly. The culture-independent GTG5-rep PCR fingerprinting was used in the preliminary characterization of AAB isolates and species-level identification was carried out by sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene, 16S-23S rDNA internally transcribed to the spacer (ITS) region and tuf gene. Acetobacter okinawensis was frequently isolated from samples obtained from apple while K. europaeus was identified as the dominant species, followed by Acetobacter indonesiensis in the samples originating from grape. In addition to common molecular techniques, real-time PCR intercalating dye assays, including DNA melting temperature (Tm) and high resolution melting analysis (HRM), were applied to acetic acid bacterial isolates for the first time. The target sequence of ITS region generated species-specific HRM profiles and Tm values allowed discrimination at species level.

Acetobacter malorum and Acetobacter cerevisiae identification and quantification by Real-Time PCR with TaqMan-MGB probes.

The identification and quantification of Acetobacter malorum and Acetobacter cerevisiae in wine and vinegar were performed using the Real-Time PCR (RT-PCR) with two TaqMan-MGB probes designed to amplify the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region between the 16S-23S rRNA genes. The primers and probes were highly specific, with a detection limit of 10² cells/ml for both species, and the efficiency of the technique was >80%. The RT-PCR technique with these two new TaqMan-MGB probes, together with the five (Acetobacter aceti, Acetobacter pasteurianus, Gluconobacter oxydans, Gluconacetobacter hansenii and Gluconacetobacter europaeus) that are already available (Torija et al., 2010), were validated on known concentrations of Acetic Acid Bacteria (AAB) grown in glucose medium (GY) and in inoculated matrices of wine and vinegar. Furthermore, this technique was applied to evaluate the AAB population in real wine samples collected in the Canary Islands. PCR enrichment performed prior to RT-PCR increased the accuracy of quantification and produced results similar to those detected with SYBR-Green. In real wine samples, the total AAB enumeration ranged from 9 × 10² to 106 cells/ml, and the seven AAB species tested were detected in more than one sample. However, AAB recovery on plates was poor; the isolates obtained on plates were A. malorum, G. oxydans, A. cerevisiae and A. pasteurianus species. RT-PCR with TaqMan-MGB probes is an accurate, specific and fast method for the identification and quantification of AAB species commonly found in wine and vinegar.

The microbial diversity of water kefir.

The microbial diversity of water kefir, made from a mixture of water, dried figs, a slice of lemon and sucrose was studied. The microbial consortia residing in the granules of three water kefirs of different origins were analyzed. A collection of 453 bacterial isolates was obtained on different selective/differential media. Bacterial isolates were grouped with randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD)-PCR analyses. One representative of each RAPD genotype was identified by comparative 16S rDNA gene sequencing. The predominant genus in water kefirs I and II was Lactobacillus, which accounted for 82.1% in water kefir I and 72.1% in water kefir II of the bacterial isolates. The most abundant species in water kefirs I and II were Lactobacillus hordei and Lb. nagelii followed by considerably lower numbers of Lb. casei. Other lactic acid bacteria (LAB) were identified as Leuconostoc mesenteroides and Lc. citreum in all three water kefirs. The most abundant species in water kefir III was Lc. mesenteroides (28%) and Lc. citreum (24.3%). A total of 57 LAB belonging to the species of Lb. casei, Lb. hordei, Lb. nagelii, Lb. hilgardii and Lc. mesenteroides were able to produce exopolysacchrides from sucrose. Non LABs were identified as Acetobacter fabarum and Ac. orientalis. The Acetobacter species were more prevalent in consortium III. Cluster analyses of RAPD-PCR patterns revealed an interspecies diversity among the Lactobacillus and Acetobacter strains. Aditionally, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Lachancea fermentati, Hanseniaospora valbyensis and Zygotorulaspora florentina were isolated and identified by comparison of partial 26S rDNA sequences and FTIR spectroscopy.

Identification and quantification of acetic acid bacteria in wine and vinegar by TaqMan-MGB probes.

A Real-Time PCR (RT-PCR) assay was developed using TaqMan minor groove binder (MGB) probes for the specific detection and quantification of five acetic acid bacteria (AAB) species (Acetobacter pasteurianus, Acetobacter aceti, Gluconacetobacter hansenii, Gluconacetobacter europaeus and Gluconobacter oxydans) in wine and vinegar. The primers and probes, designed from the 16S rRNA gene, showed good specificity with the target AAB species. The technique was tested on AAB grown in glucose medium (GY) and inoculated samples of red wine and wine vinegar. Standard curves were constructed with the five target species in all these matrices. Quantification was linear over at least 5 log units using both serial dilution of purified DNA and cells. When this technique was tested in GY medium and inoculated matrices, at least 10(2)-10(3) cells/ml were detected. To quantify low populations of AAB in microbiologically complex samples, a PCR enrichment including part of the 16S-23S rRNA gene ITS region was needed to increase the amount of target DNA compared to non-target DNA. The RT-PCR assay used in this study is a reliable, specific and fast method for quantifying these five AAB species in wine and vinegar.

Quantification of the expression of reference and alcohol dehydrogenase genes of some acetic acid bacteria in different growth conditions.

AIMS: The aim of this study was to develop a reliable system to analyse the expression of the pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ)-alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) and test its ability to predict the growth and oxidative activity of some acetic acid bacteria (AAB). METHODS AND RESULTS: Specific primers were designed for use in RT-PCR to quantify ADH expression and several housekeeping genes in four species of AAB. 16S rRNA gene was selected as an internal control. The relative expression of adhA was measured in Acetobacter aceti, Acetobacter pasteurianus, Gluconacetobacter hansenii and Gluconobacter oxydans grown in two media that had glucose or ethanol as the carbon source. AAB adhA expression was shown to be related to the two Acetobacter species' ability to oxidise and grow on ethanol, whereas G. oxydans were unable to grow on ethanol and the growth of Ga. hansenii was not related to adhA expression. CONCLUSIONS: The differential expression of ADH could be a marker to analyse both growth and oxidation ability in some AAB, especially those of the genus Acetobacter. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: Several housekeeping genes were tested in AAB and after growth in different media and it was evident that only the ribosomal coding genes were adequate as reference genes for RT-PCR.

Analysis of several methods for the extraction of high quality DNA from acetic acid bacteria in wine and vinegar for characterization by PCR-based methods.

Acetic acid bacteria (AAB) are fastidious microorganisms with poor recovery in culture. Culture-independent methods are currently under examination. Good DNA extraction is a strict requirement of these methods. We compared five methods for extracting the DNA of AAB directly from wine and vinegar samples. Four matrices (white wine, red wine, superficial vinegar and submerged vinegar) contaminated with two AAB strains belonging to Acetobacter pasteurianus and Gluconacetobacter hansenii were assayed. To improve the yield and quality of the extracted DNA, a sample treatment (washing with polyvinyl pyrrolidone or NaCl) was also tested. DNA quality was measured by amplification of the 16S rRNA gene with conventional PCR. DNA recovery rate was assessed by real-time PCR. DNA amplification was always successful with the Wizard method though DNA recovery was poor. A CTAB-based method and NucleoSpin protocol extracted the highest DNA recoveries from wine and vinegar samples. Both of these methods require treatment to recover suitable DNA for amplification with maximum recovery. Both may therefore be good solutions for DNA extraction in wine and vinegar samples. DNA extraction of Ga hansenii was more effective than that of A. pasteurianus. The fastest and cheapest method we evaluated (the Thermal shock protocol) produced the worst results both for DNA amplification and DNA recovery.

Identification of acetic acid bacteria by restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis of a PCR-amplified fragment of the gene coding for 16S rRNA.

Acetic acid bacteria (AAB) irreversibly spoil wines and represent a serious problem. Limited studies on the ecology of AAB during winemaking have been done due to the lack of rapid and precise techniques for their identification. RFLP analysis of PCR-amplified fragment of 16S rDNA was performed on AAB reference strains. The amplified rDNAs were approximately 870-bp long for all AAB species while no amplicons were detected for lactic acid bacteria and yeasts. Out of the four restriction enzymes tested, TaqI was the most efficient one and divided the studied AAB into six groups. However, complete differentiation among collection strains of Acetobacter pasteurianus and Gluconoacetobacter hansenii was not possible.

Gluconacetobacter entanii sp. nov., isolated from submerged high-acid industrial vinegar fermentations.

Acetic acid bacteria have been isolated from submerged high-acid spirit vinegar fermentations in the Southern part of Germany. Four strains (LTH 4560T, LTH 4341, LTH 4551 and LTH 4637) were characterized in more detail and it was revealed that they have in common certain properties such as requirement of acetic acid, ethanol and glucose for growth, and no over-oxidation of acetate. Growth occurs only at total concentrations (sum of acetic acid and ethanol) exceeding 6.0%. A method for their preservation was developed. Comparative analysis of the 16S rRNA revealed sequence similarities of >99% between strain LTH 4560T and the type strains of the related species Gluconacetobacter hansenii. However, low levels of DNA relatedness (<41 %) were determined in DNA-DNA similarity studies. In addition, specific physiological characteristics permitted a clear identification of the strains within established species of acetic acid bacteria. The strains could also be differentiated on the basis of the distribution of IS element 1031 C within the chromosome. Based on these results, the new species Gluconacetobacter entanii sp. nov. is proposed for strain LTH 4560T ( = DSM 13536T). A 16S-rRNA-targeted oligonucleotide probe was constructed that was specific for G. entanii, and the phylogenetic position of the new species was derived from a 16S-rRNA-based tree.