Diversity of lactic acid bacteria isolated from AOC Salers cheese.

The objective of this work was to describe the diversity of lactic acid bacteria in traditional raw milk Salers cheeses at the species and strain levels. The characterization of 381 strains isolated during ripening and various strain collections was investigated using physiological analysis and molecular techniques: Rep-PCR, species and genus specific amplifications and the sequence analysis of 16S rDNA for strain typing and taxonomic identification. The strains belonged to Lactobacillus plantarum, Lactobacillus paracasei, Lactococcus lactis, Lactococcus garviae, Enterococcus faecalis, Enterococcus faecium, Leuconostoc mesenteroides, Leuconostoc pseudomesenteroides, Streptococcus salivarius, Streptococcus millieri, Streptococcus macedonicus and Pediococcus pentosaceus. A wide phenotypic and genomic heterogeneity was observed within the different species (Lactobacillus plantarum, Lactobacillus paracasei and Leuconostoc mesenteroides) according to the origin and the time of ripening. The natural microflora was different from strain collection and each method must be combined to identify and characterize natural microflora. This study revealed the low selectivity of selective media used for the isolation of different groups of lactic acid bacteria except the Facultatively Heterofermentative lactobacilli medium selecting mesophile lactobacilli and SB medium selective for Enterococcus. The study reveals, for the first time, the microbial lactic acid bacteria community of Salers cheese and its diversity. A better knowledge of microbial flora will be useful to improve understanding of sensory quality of cheeses.