Staphylococcus aureus is an opportunistic pathogen often multidrug-resistant that not only causes a variety of human diseases, but also is able to survive on biotic and abiotic surfaces through biofilm communities. The best way to inhibit biofilm establishment is to prevent cell adhesion. In the present study, subinhibitory concentrations of the bacteriocins bovicin HC5 and nisin were tested for their capability to interfere with the adhesion of S. aureus to polystyrene. Subinhibitory dosages of the bacteriocins reduced cell adhesion and this occurred probably due to changes in the hydrophobicity of the bacterial cell and polystyrene surfaces. After treatment with bovicin HC5 and nisin, the surfaces became more hydrophilic and the free energy of adhesion (∆G(adhesion)) between bacteria and the polystyrene surface was unfavorable. The transcriptional level of selected genes was assessed by RT-qPCR approach, revealing that the bacteriocins affected the expression of some important biofilm associated genes (icaD, fnbA, and clfB) and rnaIII, which is involved in the quorum sensing mechanism. The conditioning of food-contact surfaces with bacteriocins can be an innovative and powerful strategy to prevent biofilms in the food industry. The results are relevant for food safety as they indicate that bovicin HC5 and nisin can inhibit bacterial adhesion and consequent biofilm establishment, since cell adhesion precedes biofilm formation.

The microbiota from artisanal cheeses produced in the Amazonian region is evaluated. Samples of artisanal cheeses were obtained from markets in Conceição do Araguaia and Redenção (Pará, Brazil) over rainy and dry seasons, and their biodiversity was assessed by culture-dependent and culture-independent methods. Mean counts of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) in cheeses ranged from 7.32 to 8.84 log CFU/g, for both seasons. Members of genera Lactobacillus, Lactococcus, Weissella, Enterococcus, Pediococcus, and Leuconostoc were predominant. The amplification of the 16S rRNA V6-V9 region, followed by a temporal temperature-gradient gel electrophoresis (TTGE) and sequencing of the TTGE bands revealed important differences in the microbial composition variability between samples from the two seasons and among cheese samples analyzed. TTGE showed the presence of microorganisms that are frequently found in cheese, such as L. lactis subsp. lactis, as well as other non-usual species, such as Macrococcus caseolyticus and Corynebacterium variabile. Moreover, TTGE analysis revealed the presence of microorganisms that have been isolated from other types of foods (Paralactobacillus selangorenses) along with some not usually found in foods, such as Exiguobacterium acetylicum, plus the presence of pathogenic microorganisms (Granulicatella elegans and Aerococcus sanguinicola). The present molecular approaches combined with culture-dependent methods provided a more detailed description of the microbial ecology of traditional cheeses from the Amazonian region in northern Brazil.

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