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Author Spotlight: Exploring the Fermentation Microbiome Through Next-Generation Sequencing
Published on: December 1, 2023
Phage-host interactions analysis of newly characterized Oenococcus oeni bacteriophages: Implications for malolactic
Antonella Costantini1, Francesca Doria1, Juan-Carlos Saiz2
1Consiglio per la ricerca in agricoltura e l'analisi dell'economia agraria, Centro di Ricerca per l'Enologia (CREA-ENO), Via P. Micca 35, 14100 Asti, Italy.
Abstract:
Nowadays, only few phages infecting Oenococcus oeni, the principal lactic acid bacteria (LAB) species responsible for malolactic fermentation (MLF) in wine, have been characterized. In the present study, to better understanding the factors affecting the lytic activity of Oenococcus phages, fifteen O. oeni bacteriophages have been studied in detail, both with molecular and microbiological methods. No correlations were found between genome sizes, type of integrase genes, or morphology and the lytic activity of the 15 tested phages. Interestingly, though phage attack in a wine at the end of alcoholic fermentation seems not to be a problem, it can indeed represent a risk factor for MLF when the alcohol content is low, feature that may be a key point for choosing the appropriate time for malolactic starter inoculation. Additionally, it was observed that some phages genomes bear 2 or 3 types of integrase genes, which point to horizontal gene transfer between O. oeni bacteriophages.
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