Characterizing the microbiota of wooden boards used for cheese ripening
Kirty Wadhawan, Andrew J. Steinberger, Scott A. Rankin, Garret Suen, Charles J. Czuprynski
Abstract
Wooden boards were obtained from 3 cheese-processing facilities and assessed for bacterial diversity. Samples were obtained from the surface and at depths of 0.2 and 0.9 cm. DNA was extracted and amplified by PCR and 16S rRNA analysis was performed to identify bacterial communities present on the surface and within the boards. Although there was board-to-board variation in both diversity and richness, all boards contained bacteria in the phyla Actinobacteria, Firmicutes, and Proteobacteria. In general, the boards selected for saltand cold-tolerant bacteria, with 7 operational taxonomic units (Staphylococcus, Brevibacterium, Psychrobacter, Brachybacterium, Jeotgalicoccus, Nocardiopsaceae, and Yaniella) forming a core microbiota found on all boards.