Community structure and diversity of biofilms from a beer bottling plant as revealed using 16S rRNA gene clone libraries.

The microbial composition of biofilms from a beer bottling plant was analyzed by a cultivation independent analysis of the 16S rRNA genes. Clone libraries were differentiated by amplified 16S rRNA gene restriction analysis and representative clones from each group were sequenced. The diversity of the clone libraries was comparable with the diversity found for environmental samples. No evidences for the presence of strictly anaerobic taxa or important beer spoilers were found, indicating that biofilms developed for more than 6 months at the plant formed no appropriate habitat for those microorganisms. The genus Methylobacterium was one of the dominating groups of the clone libraries. The size of this population was assessed by fluorescence in situ hybridization and fatty acid analysis. In addition, considerable numbers of clones were assigned to uncultivated organisms.