title: Analysis of the microflora in Tibetan kefir grains using denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis.
abstract: The microflora of Tibetan kefir grains was investigated by culture- independent methods. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) of partially amplified 16S rRNA for bacteria and 26S rRNA for yeasts, followed by sequencing of the most intense bands, showed that the dominant microorganisms were Pseudomonas sp., Leuconostoc mesenteroides, Lactobacillus helveticus, Lactobacillus kefiranofaciens, Lactococcus lactis, Lactobacillus kefiri, Lactobacillus casei, Kazachstania unispora, Kluyveromyces marxianus, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and Kazachstania exigua. The bacterial communities between three kinds of Tibetan kefir grains showed 78-84% similarity, and yeasts 80-92%. The microflora is held together in the matrix of fibrillar material composed largely of a water-insoluble polysaccharide.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Agro-product processing, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanjing 210014, China.
authors.forename: Jianzhong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Xiaoli
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Hanhu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Mingsheng
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dong
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D043302:Cultured Milk Products / Q000382:microbiology; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel / Q000379:methods*; D005516:Food Microbiology; D005784:Gene Amplification; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D010802:Phylogeny; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012329:RNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D012331:RNA, Fungal / Q000235:genetics; D012335:RNA, Ribosomal / Q000235:genetics; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D045868:Sorghum / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D018609:Tibet; D015003:Yeasts / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification*
chemical_list: D012329:RNA, Bacterial; D012331:RNA, Fungal; D012335:RNA, Ribosomal; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; C065096:RNA, ribosomal, 26S