title: Biodiversity of the Surface Microbial Consortia from Limburger, Reblochon, Livarot, Tilsit, and Gubbeen Cheeses.
abstract: Comprehensive collaborative studies from our laboratories reveal the extensive biodiversity of the microflora of the surfaces of smear-ripened cheeses. Two thousand five hundred ninety-seven strains of bacteria and 2,446 strains of yeasts from the surface of the smear-ripened cheeses Limburger, Reblochon, Livarot, Tilsit, and Gubbeen, isolated at three or four times during ripening, were identified; 55 species of bacteria and 30 species of yeast were found. The microfloras of the five cheeses showed many similarities but also many differences and interbatch variation. Very few of the commercial smear microorganisms, deliberately inoculated onto the cheese surface, were reisolated and then mainly from the initial stages of ripening, implying that smear cheese production units must have an adventitious "house" flora. Limburger cheese had the simplest microflora, containing two yeasts, Debaryomyces hansenii and Geotrichum candidum, and two bacteria, Arthrobacter arilaitensis and Brevibacterium aurantiacum. The microflora of Livarot was the most complicated, comprising 10 yeasts and 38 bacteria, including many gram-negative organisms. Reblochon also had a very diverse microflora containing 8 yeasts and 13 bacteria (excluding gram-negative organisms which were not identified), while Gubbeen had 7 yeasts and 18 bacteria and Tilsit had 5 yeasts and 9 bacteria. D. hansenii was by far the dominant yeast, followed in order by G. candidum, Candida catenulata, and Kluyveromyces lactis. B. aurantiacum was the dominant bacterium and was found in every batch of the 5 cheeses. The next most common bacteria, in order, were Staphylococcus saprophyticus, A. arilaitensis, Corynebacterium casei, Corynebacterium variabile, and Microbacterium gubbeenense. S. saprophyticus was mainly found in Gubbeen, and A. arilaitensis was found in all cheeses but not in every batch. C. casei was found in most batches of Reblochon, Livarot, Tilsit, and Gubbeen. C. variabile was found in all batches of Gubbeen and Reblochon but in only one batch of Tilsit and in no batch of Limburger or Livarot. Other bacteria were isolated in low numbers from each of the cheeses, suggesting that each of the 5 cheeses has a unique microflora. In Gubbeen cheese, several different strains of the dominant bacteria were present, as determined by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, and many of the less common bacteria were present as single clones. The culture-independent method, denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis, resulted in identification of several bacteria which were not found by the culture-dependent (isolation and rep-PCR identification) method. It was thus a useful complementary technique to identify other bacteria in the cheeses. The gross composition, the rate of increase in pH, and the indices of proteolysis were different in most of the cheeses.
authors.affiliation: Moorepark Food Research Center, Teagasc, Fermoy, Ireland.
authors.forename: Timothy M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Cogan
authors.affiliation: Naturkost Ernst Weber GmbH, 81371 Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Stefanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Goerges
authors.affiliation: SA Coca Cola Services N.V., 1070 Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gelsomino
authors.affiliation: Bioprocess Division, Millipore Corporation, 67120 Molsheim, France.
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Larpin
authors.affiliation: Bundesanstalt für Alpenländische Milchwirtschaft, 6200 Rotholz, Austria.
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hohenegger
authors.affiliation: School of Life and Health Sciences, Aston University, Birmingham B4 7ET, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Nagamani
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Bora
authors.affiliation: Actilait, 75314 Paris Cedex 09, France.
authors.forename: Emmanuel
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Jamet
authors.affiliation: Moorepark Food Research Center, Teagasc, Fermoy, Ireland.
authors.forename: Mary C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Rea
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire Universitaire de Biodiversité et Ecologie Microbienne (EA3882), IFR148 ScInBioS, Université Européenne de Bretagne, Université de Brest, ESMISAB, Technopôle de Brest Iroise, 29280 Plouzané, France.
authors.forename: Jérôme
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mounier
authors.affiliation: BCCM/LMG Bacteria Collection, Laboratorium voor Microbiologie, Universiteit Gent, 9000 Gent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vancanneyt
authors.affiliation: Unité des Micro-organismes d'Intérêt Laitier et Alimentaire, IFR146 ICORE, Université de Caen Basse-Normandie, 14032 Caen, France.
authors.forename: Micheline
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Guéguen
authors.affiliation: Unité des Micro-organismes d'Intérêt Laitier et Alimentaire, IFR146 ICORE, Université de Caen Basse-Normandie, 14032 Caen, France.
authors.forename: Nathalie
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Desmasures
authors.affiliation: BCCM/LMG Bacteria Collection, Laboratorium voor Microbiologie, Universiteit Gent, 9000 Gent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Jean
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Swings
authors.affiliation: Microbial Resources Centre, University of Newcastle, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Mike
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Goodfellow
authors.affiliation: Microbial Resources Centre, University of Newcastle, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Alan C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Ward
authors.affiliation: Bundesanstalt für Alpenländische Milchwirtschaft, 6200 Rotholz, Austria.
authors.forename: Hans
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sebastiani
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Génie et de Microbiologie des Procédés Alimentaires, INRA, AgroParis-Tech, 78850 Thiverval Grignon, France.
authors.forename: Françoise
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Irlinger
authors.affiliation: Deceased, Institut Technique Français des Fromages, 74801 La Roche sur Foron Cedex, France.
authors.forename: Jean-Francois
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Chamba
authors.affiliation: J. Bauer KG, 83512 Wasserburg/Inn, Germany.
authors.forename: Ruediger
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Beduhn
authors.affiliation: Lehrstuhl für Mikrobielle Ökologie, Abteilung für Mikrobiologie, Zentralinstitut für Ernährungs-und Lebensmittelforschung, Technische Universität München, 85354 Freising, Germany.
authors.forename: Siegfried
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Scherer
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D002611:Cheese / Q000382:microbiology*; D059013:Microbial Consortia; D015003:Yeasts / Q000145:classification* / Q000302:isolation & purification*