Comparative genetic and physiological characterisation of Pectinatus species reveals shared tolerance to beer-associated stressors but halotolerance specific to pickle-associated strains

Timo Kramer, Philip Kelleher, Julia van der Meer, Tadgh O'Sullivan, Jan-Maarten A. Geertman, Sylvia H. Duncan, Harry J. Flint, Petra Louis* (Corresponding Author)

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

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Abstract

Obligate anaerobic bacteria from the genus Pectinatus have been known to cause beer spoilage for over 40 years. Whole genome sequencing was performed on eleven beer spoilage strains (nine Pectinatus frisingensis, one Pectinatus cerevisiiphilus and one Pectinatus haikarae isolate), as well as two pickle spoilage species (Pectinatus brassicae MB591 and Pectinatus sottacetonis MB620) and the tolerance of all species to a range of environmental conditions was tested. Exploration of metabolic pathways for carbohydrates, amino acids and vitamins showed little difference between beer spoilage- and pickle spoilage-associated strains. However, genes for certain carbohydrate and sulphur-containing amino acid-associated enzymes were only present in the beer spoilage group and genes for specific transporters and regulatory genes were uniquely found in the pickle spoilage group. Transporters for compatible solutes, only present in pickle-associated strains, likely explain their experimentally observed higher halotolerance compared to the beer spoilers. Genes involved in biofilm formation and ATP Binding Cassette (ABC) transporters potentially capable of exporting hop-derived antimicrobial compounds were found in all strains. All species grew in the presence of alcohol up to 5% alcohol by volume (ABV) and hops extract up to 80 ppm of iso-α-acids. Therefore, the species isolated from pickle processes may pose novel hazards in brewing.
Original languageEnglish
Article number103462
Number of pages12
JournalFood Microbiology
Volume90
Early online date21 Feb 2020
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Sept 2020

Bibliographical note

This work was supported by Heineken Supply Chain B.V. PL, SD & HJF receive support from the Scottish Government Rural and Environment Sciences and Analytical Services (RESAS). We would like to express thanks to Nicola Smith for her help formatting Fig. 1, Dr Paul Sheridan for bioinformatics-based advice and help with troubleshooting scripts, Dr Kenneth Forbes for his advice on core and pan genome analysis, Sandro Cocuzza for providing the hop extract and Marine Freyereisen for supplying Lactobacillus brevis MB521.

Keywords

  • Pectinatus
  • comparative genomics
  • environmental adaptation
  • beer
  • pickle
  • spoilage
  • FRISINGENSIS
  • Pickle
  • GENUS
  • Comparative genomics
  • SUPPLEMENT TREMBL
  • SP NOV.
  • EMENDED DESCRIPTION
  • Beer
  • SEQUENCE DATABASE
  • ALIGNMENT
  • Spoilage
  • MEGASPHAERA
  • SPOILAGE BACTERIA
  • CEREVISIIPHILUS
  • Environmental adaptation

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