Phage biodiversity in artisanal cheese wheys reflects the complexity of the fermentation process

Mahony, Jennifer; Moscarelli, Angelo; Kelleher, Philip; Lugli, Gabriele A.; Ventura, Marco; Settanni, Luca; van Sinderen, Douwe

Phage biodiversity in artisanal cheese wheys reflects the complexity of the fermentation process

dc.contributor.author	Mahony, Jennifer
dc.contributor.author	Moscarelli, Angelo
dc.contributor.author	Kelleher, Philip
dc.contributor.author	Lugli, Gabriele A.
dc.contributor.author	Ventura, Marco
dc.contributor.author	Settanni, Luca
dc.contributor.author	van Sinderen, Douwe
dc.contributor.funder	Science Foundation Ireland	en
dc.contributor.funder	Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine	en
dc.date.accessioned	2017-04-03T18:54:14Z
dc.date.available	2017-04-03T18:54:14Z
dc.date.issued	2017-03-16
dc.date.updated	2017-03-31T10:35:59Z
dc.description.abstract	Dairy fermentations constitute a perfect “breeding ground” for bacteriophages infecting starter cultures, particularly strains of Lactococcus lactis. In modern fermentations, these phages typically belong to one of three groups, i.e., the 936, P335, and c2 phage groups. Traditional production methods present fewer chemical and physical barriers to phage proliferation compared to modern production systems, while the starter cultures used are typically complex, variable, and undefined. In the current study, a variety of cheese whey, animal-derived rennet, and vat swab samples from artisanal cheeses produced in Sicily were analysed for the presence of lactococcal phages to assess phage diversity in such environments. The complete genomes of 18 representative phage isolates were sequenced, allowing the identification of 10 lactococcal 949 group phages, six P087 group phages, and two members of the 936 group phages. The genetic diversity of these isolates was examined using phylogenetic analysis as well as a focused analysis of the receptor binding proteins, which dictate specific interactions with the host-encoded receptor. Thermal treatments at 63 °C and 83 °C indicate that the 949 phages are particularly sensitive to thermal treatments, followed by the P087 and 936 isolates, which were shown to be much less sensitive to such treatments. This difference may explain the relatively low frequency of isolation of the so-called “rare” 949 and P087 group phages in modern fermentations.	en
dc.description.sponsorship	Science Foundation Ireland (SFI Starting Investigator Research Grant Ref. No. 15/SIRG/3430; SFI Investigator Award Ref. No.13/IA/1953); Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Food Institutional Research Measure Ref: 10/RD/TMFRC/704–‘CheeseBoard 2015’)	en
dc.description.status	Peer reviewed	en
dc.description.version	Published Version	en
dc.format.mimetype	application/pdf	en
dc.identifier.articleid	45
dc.identifier.citation	Mahony, J., Moscarelli, A., Kelleher, P., Lugli, G. A., Ventura, M., Settanni, L. and van Sinderen, D. (2017) ‘Phage biodiversity in artisanal cheese wheys reflects the complexity of the fermentation process’, Viruses, 9(3),45 (18pp). doi:10.3390/v9030045	en
dc.identifier.doi	10.3390/v9030045
dc.identifier.endpage	18	en
dc.identifier.issn	1999-4915
dc.identifier.issued	3	en
dc.identifier.journaltitle	Viruses	en
dc.identifier.startpage	1	en
dc.identifier.uri	https://hdl.handle.net/10468/3855
dc.identifier.volume	9	en
dc.language.iso	en	en
dc.publisher	MDPI AG	en
dc.rights	© 2017, the Authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).	en
dc.rights.uri	http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/	en
dc.subject	Bacteriophage	en
dc.subject	Lactococcus lactis	en
dc.subject	Dairy fermentation	en
dc.subject	Cheese	en
dc.subject	Infection	en
dc.title	Phage biodiversity in artisanal cheese wheys reflects the complexity of the fermentation process	en
dc.type	Article (peer-reviewed)	en