Identification of acetic acid bacteria by restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis of a PCR-amplified fragment of the gene coding for 16S rRNA.

Acetic acid bacteria (AAB) irreversibly spoil wines and represent a serious problem. Limited studies on the ecology of AAB during winemaking have been done due to the lack of rapid and precise techniques for their identification. RFLP analysis of PCR-amplified fragment of 16S rDNA was performed on AAB reference strains. The amplified rDNAs were approximately 870-bp long for all AAB species while no amplicons were detected for lactic acid bacteria and yeasts. Out of the four restriction enzymes tested, TaqI was the most efficient one and divided the studied AAB into six groups. However, complete differentiation among collection strains of Acetobacter pasteurianus and Gluconoacetobacter hansenii was not possible.