Serra da Estrela PDO Cheese Microbiome as Revealed by Next Generation Sequencing

Abstract

Serra da Estrela PDO cheese is the oldest traditional cheese manufactured in Portugal. In this work, its microbiome as well as the main raw materials used in cheese production, raw ewes’ milk and thistle flowers (Cynara cardunculus L.), were characterized using next generation sequencing. Samples were accordingly retrieved from a local producer over two consecutive production campaigns and at different time periods within each campaign. The bacterial and fungi communities associated with each matrix were accessed through sequencing of V3−V4 and Internal Transcribed Spacer 2 regions of rRNA gene amplicons, respectively. A high microbial diversity was found associated to each matrix, differing significantly (p < 0.05) from each other. Over 500 taxa were identified in each analyzed matrix, ranging from dominant (relative abundance > 1%), sub-dominant (0.01−1%) and rare taxa (<0.01%). Specifically, in cheese, 30 taxa were present in all analyzed samples (core taxa), including species of Leuconostoc spp. and Lactococcus spp. for bacteria and Candida spp., Debaryomyces spp. and Yarrowia spp. for fungi, that were cumulatively the most prevalent genera in Serra da Estrela PDO cheese (average relative abundance ≥10%). Ultimately, this characterization study may contribute to a better understanding of the microbial dynamics of this traditional PDO product, namely the influence of raw materials on cheese microbiome, and could assist producers interested in preserving the identity, quality and safety of Serra da Estrela PDO cheese.

Ram Semen Cryopreservation for Portuguese Native Breeds: Season and Breed Effects on Semen Quality Variation

“…Further research is needed to identify the causes of this high variation of SPZ viability in this breed after the freeze-thawing cycle. However, we have showed that SPZ cryopreservation is the main factor for a significant decrease in semen quality, which is normal and is in accordance to literature [27][28][29]. However, some Portuguese breeds have got good IM like some improved European breeds that trade semen doses at good prices [28].…”

“…A 36.1% decrease between fresh and thawed semen was observed in Serra da Estrela rams, which is one of the breeds with higher SPZ viability in the fresh semen (71.2%). This important breed produces the oldest traditional cheese manufactured in Portugal, Serra da Estrela Cheese (PDO) [28]. Nevertheless, the alive SPZ (45.5%) after thawing for this breed, remains similar to all the others breeds.…”

Comparative analyses of the bacterial communities present in the spontaneously fermented milk products of Northeast India and West Africa

“…The antimicrobial activity of sorghum leaf extract (Akogou et al, 2018 ; Schnur et al, 2021 ) and further processing, such as drying, may have favored Streptococcus spp. Contrary to the cheese types produced worldwide from cow milk through natural fermentation, L. lactis and L. mesenteroides (Delcenserie et al, 2014 ; Shangpliang et al, 2017 ; Rocha et al, 2021 ; Sun and D'Amico, 2021 ; Zhang et al, 2021 ) were not predominant in Wagashi cheese, while Streptococcus spp. dominated.…”

Evaluation of Raw Cheese as a Novel Source of Biofertilizer with a High Level of Biosecurity for Blueberry

“…Studies of the microbiota of PDO "Serra da Estrela" cheeses are scarce as it is impossible to make comparisons between them; they only allow for recognizing the presence of the major groups, which are, Lactococci, Lactobacilli and Enterococci [12]. Thus, studies using metagenomics of the populations of LAB present in "Serra da Estrela" cheese showed the presence of Lactococcus, Lactobacillus and Leuconostoc but also revealed a great variability between populations [41]. In these cases, the presence of L. plantarum and Le.…”