Predominance of Tetragenococcus halophilus as the cause of sugar thick juice degradation.
The industrial storage of sugar thick juice was simulated on a laboratory scale. Terminal Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (T-RFLP) analysis and the application of Clone Libraries in parallel with classical microbiology were used to study the bacterial diversity and all revealed a dominance (>99%) of Tetragenococcus halophilus during storage. The degradation of thick juice correlated with the appearance of L-lactic acid and high concentrations of T. halophilus. In addition, pure cultures of T. halophilus induced degradation of sterile thick juice. A specific PCR was developed to detect T. halophilus and industrial thick juice samples from Belgium, Germany and France all contained T. halophilus, suggesting a consistent association of this organism with thick juice. T. halophilus has been known only as a halophile thus far, and this report is the first to show an association of this organism with a sugar-rich environment.
Justé
Annelies
A
Department of Microbial and Molecular Systems, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Centre for Food and Microbial Technology, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, B-3001 Leuven, Belgium.
Lievens
Bart
B
Klingeberg
Michael
M
Michiels
Chris W
CW
Marsh
Terence L
TL
Willems
Kris A
KA
D050260:Carbohydrate Metabolism; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D005516:Food Microbiology; D005519:Food Preservation / Q000379:methods*; D007218:Industrial Microbiology / Q000379:methods*; D007778:Lactobacillus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D010802:Phylogeny; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D013045:Species Specificity
D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S