Gidotyri microbiota
The purpose of this study was to determine for the first time the microbiota in artisanal-type (Artisanal_CS, Artisanal_IHS) and industrial-type (Industrial,Ind.) gidotyri cheeses and investi-gate the influence of the cheese-making practices on its composition using culture-independent techniques. The microbiota present in Artisanal_CS (n=15), Artisanal_IHS (n=10) and Ind.ustrial (n=9) gidotyri cheese samples was analyzed using a targeted metagenomic approach (16S rRNA gene). The Ind.ustrial gidotyri cheese microbiota was less complex dominated by the Strepto-coccaceae family (91%) that was more abundant compared to the artisanal gidotyri cheeses (p<0.05). Artisanal cheeses were more diverse compositionally with specific bacterial species being prev-alent to each subtype. Particularly, Loigolactobacillus coryniformis (OTU 175), Secundilactobacillus malefermentans (OTU 48), and Streptococcus parauberis (OTU 50) was more prevalent in Artisanal_IHS cheeses compared to Artisanal_CS (p=0.001) and Ind.ustrial (p<0.01) gidotyri cheeses and Carno-bacterium maltaromaticum (OTU 23) and Enterobacter hormaechei subsp. hoffmannii (OTU 268) in Arti-sanal_CS cheeses compared to Artisanal_IHS cheeses (p<0.05) and Ind.ustrial cheeses (p<0.05). Hafnia alvei (OTU 13) and Acinetobacter colistiniresistens (OTU 111) tended to be more prevalent in Artisanal_CS compared to the other two cheese groups (p<0.10). In conclusion, higher microbial diversity was observed in the artisanal-type gidotyri cheeses with possible bacterial markers specific to each subtype identified with potential application to traceability of the manufacturing processes authenticity and cheese quality.