The “Crosstalk” between Microbiota and Metabolomic Profile of Kefalograviera Cheese after the Innovative Feeding Strategy of Dairy Sheep by Omega-3 Fatty Acids

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of two different feeding systems, a control or a flaxseed and lupin diet (experimental), for a sheep flock, on the microbiota and metabolome of Kefalograviera cheese samples produced by their milk. In particular, the microbiota present in Kefalograviera cheese samples was analyzed using 16S rRNA gene sequencing, while ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled to quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC-QTOF-MS) was applied to investigate the chemical profile of the cheeses, considering the different feeding systems applied. The metagenomic profile was found to be altered by the experimental feeding system and significantly correlated to specific cheese metabolites, with Streptococcaceae and Lactobacillaceae establishing positive and negative correlations with the discriminant metabolites. Overall, more than 120 features were annotated and identified with high confidence level across the samples while most of them belonged to specific chemical classes. Characteristic analytes detected in different concentrations in the experimental cheese samples including arabinose, dulcitol, hypoxanthine, itaconic acid, L-arginine, L-glutamine and succinic acid. Therefore, taken together, our results provide an extensive foodomics approach for Kefalograviera cheese samples from different feeding regimes, investigating the metabolomic and metagenomic biomarkers that could be used to foresee, improve, and control cheese ripening outcomes, demonstrating the quality of the experimental Kefalograviera cheese.

An Insight into Goat Cheese: The Tales of Artisanal and Industrial Gidotyri Microbiota

“…The thirty-five most abundant genera in all three Gidotyri cheese groups are presented in Figure 5 , while the complete list of genera identified are given in Figure S2 of the Supplementary File . Lactococcus and Streptococcus represented the two major genera in all three cheese groups with relative abundance 43.4% and 30.6%, respectively, followed by Lactiplantibacillus (8.9%), Secundilactobacillus (4.4%) and Lactobacillus (2.9%), with the remaining genera being present at <1.6% in accordance with observations from previous studies on different cheese types with variations in the abundances of these genera [ 23 , 27 , 39 , 46 , 49 , 51 ]. Five genera were found to be significantly different in terms of prevalence (Fisher’s test) between the three cheese groups.…”

“…Furthermore, Greece traditionally produces a variety of cheeses from goat milk solely or mixed with sheep milk and/or cow milk [ 34 ], a large number (23) of which are registered to eAmbrosia, the EU geographical indications register, under the Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) and Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) labels. Research has mostly focused on identifying the composition of the microbiota, particularly the LAB community, in the industrial or artisanal Greek PDO cheeses, namely Feta, Kefalograviera, Kalathaki Limnou, Arseniko Naxou and Graviera Kritis, using conventional microbiological techniques coupled with molecular tools (Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry, genomic methods) [ 6 , 15 , 28 , 35 , 36 ] or, more recently, HTS [ 27 , 37 , 38 , 39 ], while information on other non-PDO traditional cheeses is limited [ 15 , 36 ]. Furthermore, a single study evaluated both artisanal-type and industrial-type galotyri (PDO Greek cheese) using conventional microbiological techniques and reported compositional differences in the LAB community between the two groups [ 40 ].…”

A Snapshot, Using a Multi-Omic Approach, of the Metabolic Cross-Talk and the Dynamics of the Resident Microbiota in Ripening Cheese Inoculated with Listeria innocua

“…in one cheese has been investigated by means of traditional analytical techniques [ 14 ], but no detailed description of the released compounds has been reported while interacting with pathogens [ 16 , 17 , 20 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 ]. Recently, Tzora et al [ 27 ] established differences in the molecular signaling (also called cross-talk) exchanged between resident microbiota in Kefalograviera cheese after the feeding system of the dairy sheep was changed. On the other hand, Shang et al [ 28 ], by correlating metataxonomic and metabolomic data, studied the dynamics of microbial communities, the changes in flavor, and the physico-chemical properties of pickled chayote during an industrial-scale natural fermentation.…”