Numerous traditionally aged cheeses are surface ripened and develop a biofilm, known as the cheese rind, on their surfaces. The rind of such cheeses comprises a complex community of bacterial and fungal species that are jointly responsible for the typical characteristics of the various cheese varieties. Surface ripening starts directly after brining with the rapid colonization of the cheese surface by yeasts. The initially dominant yeasts are acid and salt‐tolerant and are capable of metabolizing the lactate produced by the starter lactic acid bacteria and of producing NH3 from amino acids. Both processes cause the pH of the cheese surface to rise dramatically. This so‐called deacidification process enables the establishment of a salt‐tolerant, Gram‐positive bacterial community that is less acid‐tolerant. Over the past decade, knowledge of yeast diversity in cheeses has increased considerably. The yeast species with the highest prevalence on surface‐ripened cheeses are Debaryomyces hansenii and Geotrichum candidum, but up to 30 species can be found. In the cheese core, only lactose‐fermenting yeasts, such as Kluyveromyces marxianus, are expected to grow. Yeasts are recognized as having an indispensable impact on the development of cheese flavour and texture because of their deacidifying, proteolytic, and/or lipolytic activity. Yeasts are used not only in the production of surface‐ripened cheeses but also as adjunct cultures in the vat milk in order to modify ripening behaviour and flavour of the cheese. However, yeasts may also be responsible for spoilage of cheese, causing early blowing, off‐flavour, brown discolouration, and other visible alterations of cheese.

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Fibromyalgia (FM) is a disorder characterised by diffuse widespread musculoskeletal aching and stiffness and multiple tender points [1]. Its pathophysiology is poorly understood. The influence of aerobic endurance exercise on pain in patients with FM was investigated. Twenty-seven patients (25 female, 2 male) participated in a controlled clinical study and performed 12 weeks of jogging, walking, cycling or swimming following a given schedule. Twelve sedentary FM patients (11 female, 1 male) served as controls. Before and after training both the study and the control groups were evaluated spiroergometrically. Tender point pain was quantified by dolorimetry. The painful body surface was estimated by a pain body diagram, and its intensity by a visual analogue scale and a ranking scale. Patients trained for an average of 25 min two to three times a week, with an average intensity of 50% of maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max). Unlike the control group, the training group exhibited a decrease in heart rate and VO2 and an increase in respiratory quotient during submaximal workload. Maximal performance capacity and VO2max remained unchanged, whereas the wattpulse (watt/heart rate) improved at maximal workload. Pain parameters remained unchanged in the control group, but in the training group the mean number of positive tender points (15.4/12.7), the mean pain threshold of the gluteal tender point (2.89 kp/3.50 kp) and the painful body surface (18%/15% body surface) decreased significantly. Subjective general pain condition deteriorated in two patients but improved in 17. Our results suggest a positive effect of aerobic endurance exercise on fitness and well-being in patients with FM.

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The authors' results argue for the importance of polymorphisms in the IGF1 signalling pathway in combination with MSTN on the variant degree of physiological hypertrophy of male athletes.