Bacteriophage ecology has raised an increasing attention over the last few years, thanks to the improvement and contributions of microscopy, comparative genomics and viral metagenomics methods. Fermented foods host dense and diverse microbial communities and, therefore, represent an ideal biotope for bacteriophages. If their occurrence in such environments has been demonstrated decades ago, data highlighting their impact on mixed communities and their ecological roles are scarce when compared to other microbial ecosystems. This review summarizes most recent knowledge into the bacteriophage diversity of fermented foods and stress evidences suggesting the impact of these entities on the dynamics of food microbial communities. The main ecological roles played by bacteriophages in microbial ecosystems are also addressed. Understanding the impact of bacteriophages in fermented foods will further help in designing adapted microbial consortia and thus providing a better control of the food fermentations.
Smear-ripened cheeses host complex microbial communities that play a crucial role in the ripening process. Although bacteriophages have been frequently isolated from dairy products, their diversity and ecological role in such this type of cheese remain underexplored. In order to fill this gap, the main objective of this study was to isolate and characterize bacteriophages from the rind of a smear-ripened cheese. Thus, viral particles extracted from the cheese rind were tested through a spot assay against a collection of bacteria isolated from the same cheese and identified by sequencing the full-length small subunit ribosomal RNA gene. In total, five virulent bacteriophages infecting Brevibacterium aurantiacum, Glutamicibacter arilaitensis, Leuconostoc falkenbergense and Psychrobacter aquimaris species were obtained. All exhibit a narrow host range, being only able to infect a few cheese-rind isolates within the same species. The complete genome of each phage was sequenced using both Nanopore and Illumina technologies, assembled and annotated. A sequence comparison with known phages revealed that four of them may represent at least new genera. The distribution of the five virulent phages into the dairy-plant environment was also investigated by PCR, and three potential reservoirs were identified. This work provides new knowledge on the cheese rind viral community and an overview of the distribution of phages within a cheese factory.
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