Next Article in Journal
Carotenoids from Cyanobacteria: A Biotechnological Approach for the Topical Treatment of Psoriasis
Next Article in Special Issue
In Vitro Probiotic Potential and Safety Evaluation (Hemolytic, Cytotoxic Activity) of Bifidobacterium Strains Isolated from Raw Camel Milk
Previous Article in Journal
Preliminary Survey of Alternaria Toxins Reduction during Fermentation of Whole Wheat Dough
Previous Article in Special Issue
Interactions between Kazachstania humilis Yeast Species and Lactic Acid Bacteria in Sourdough
 
 
Font Type:
Arial Georgia Verdana
Font Size:
Aa Aa Aa
Line Spacing:
Column Width:
Background:
Article

Identification of Species and Subspecies of Lactic Acid Bacteria Present in Spanish Cheeses Type “Torta” by MALDI-TOF MS and pheS gene Analyses

by
Fernando Sánchez-Juanes
1,2,
Vanessa Teixeira-Martín
3,
José Manuel González-Buitrago
1,2,
Encarna Velázquez
3,4,* and
José David Flores-Félix
3,*
1
Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de Salamanca (IBSAL), Complejo Asistencial Universitario de Salamanca, Universidad de Salamanca, CSIC, 37007 Salamanca, Spain
2
Departamento de Bioquímica y Biología Molecular, Universidad de Salamanca, 37007 Salamanca, Spain
3
Departamento de Microbiología y Genética and Instituto Hispanoluso de Investigaciones Agrarias (CIALE), Universidad de Salamanca, Edificio Departamental de Biología, Lab 209. Av. Doctores de la Reina S/N, 37007 Salamanca, Spain
4
Unidad Asociada Grupo de Interacción Planta-Microorganismo (Universidad de Salamanca-IRNASA-CSIC), 37007 Salamanca, Spain
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Microorganisms 2020, 8(2), 301; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms8020301
Submission received: 30 January 2020 / Revised: 13 February 2020 / Accepted: 18 February 2020 / Published: 21 February 2020
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Feature Papers in Food Microbiology)

Abstract

:
Several artisanal cheeses are elaborated in European countries, being commonly curdled with rennets of animal origin. However, in some Spanish regions some cheeses of type “Torta” are elaborated using Cynara cardunculus L. rennets. Two of these cheeses, “Torta del Casar” and “Torta de Trujillo”, are elaborated in Cáceres province with ewe’s raw milk and matured over at least 60 days without starters. In this work, we identified the lactic acid bacteria present in these cheeses using MALDI-TOF MS and pheS gene analyses, which showed they belong to the species Lactobacillus curvatus, Lactobacillus diolivorans, Lactobacillus paracasei, Lactobacillus plantarum, Lactobacillus rhamnosus, Lactococcus lactis and Leuconostoc mesenteroides. The pheS gene analysis also allowed the identification of the subspecies La. plantarum subsp. plantarum, La. paracasei subsp. paracasei and Le. mesenteroides subsp. jonggajibkimchii. Low similarity values were found in this gene for some currently accepted subspecies of Lc. lactis and for the two subspecies of La. plantarum, and values near to 100% for the subspecies of Le. mesenteroides and La. paracasei. These results, which were confirmed by the calculated ANIb and dDDH values of their whole genomes, showed the need to revise the taxonomic status of these species and their subspecies.

1. Introduction

Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) encompass Gram positive cocci and rods distributed in different genera, species and subspecies belonging to different families from the order Lactobacillales [1]. Many of these bacteria are considered probiotics due to their beneficial effects for human health [2] and they are present in fermented foods [3].
Cheeses, including artisanal ones, are commonly curdled with rennet of animal origin, however, the Spanish agronomic writer Columela (4–70 AD) mentioned in his book entitled De Re Rustica that cheese can be curdled with the thistle flowers. This practice is currently maintained in some Spanish regions, where the cheeses of type “Torta” are elaborated using Cynara cardunculus L. rennets. The best known of these cheeses is the “Torta del Casar” elaborated in Cáceres province with ewe’s raw milk and matured over at least 60 days without starters.
The LAB present in “Torta del Casar” cheese were initially identified using phenotypic traits [4], and more recently through the analysis of the 16S rRNA gene sequences [5], which was the methodology also used for the identification of these bacteria in other European artisanal cheeses [6,7,8,9,10,11].
However, the 16S rRNA gene has limitations in differentiating among closely related species and subspecies of LAB needing additional techniques, such as the sequencing of protein-coding genes or MALDI-TOF MS [12]. The latter technique has been used to identify the LAB from a French artisanal cheese, showing the presence of species such as La. plantarum and La. paracasei, which encompass several subspecies [13].
The usefulness of MALDI-TOF MS to differentiate some subspecies of La. paracasei, La. plantarum and Lc. lactis has been shown in some works [14,15,16], but the identification at subspecies level should be assessed by the sequencing of protein-coding genes, which have a higher discriminating power than the 16S rRNA gene among closely related taxa. In the case of LAB, the pheS gene has been used, combined with MALDI-TOF MS, for their identification in some fermented foods [17,18], but, to date, these two techniques have not been used together to identify LAB in cheese samples.
Therefore, the first aim of this work was to identify the LAB isolated from two cheeses of type “Torta” elaborated in two different sites (Casar and Trujillo) in Cáceres province in Spain through MALDI-TOF MS and pheS gene analyses. The second aim was to analyse the results obtained with these two techniques compared to those of whole-genome analysis for the differentiation of the subspecies currently accepted within several species of LAB.

2. Materials and Methods

2.1. Strains Isolation

The strains were isolated from ripened cheeses type “Torta” named “Torta del Casar” (Doña Engracia Torta del Casar, Casar de Cáceres, Spain) and “Torta de Trujillo” (or “Retorta de Trujillo”) (Quesería Finca Pascualete, Trujillo, Spain), both elaborated in Cáceres province. For strains’ isolation, we followed the methodology described by Ordiales et al. [5] using MRS agar (Sigma Co., St. Louis, MO., USA) for strain isolation. The inoculated plates were incubated at 20 °C for 48h.

2.2. MALDI-TOF MS Performing and Data Analysis

The sample preparation and the MALDI-TOF MS analysis were carried out as was previously published [19] using a matrix of saturated solution of α-HCCA (Bruker Daltonics, Bremen, Germany) in 50% acetonitrile and 2.5% trifluoracetic acid. We used amounts of biomass between 5 and 100 mg to obtain the spectra as indicated by the manufacturer. The calibration masses were the Bruker Bacterial Test Standards (BTS), which were as follows (masses as averages): RL36, 4365.3 Da; RS22, 5096.8 Da; RL34, 5381.4 Da; RL33meth, 6255.4 Da; RL29, 7274.5 Da; RS19, 10,300.1 Da; RNase A, 13,683.2 Da and myoglobin, 16,952.3 Da.
The score values proposed by the manufacturer are the following: a score value between 2.3 and 3.00 indicates highly probable species identification; a score value between 2.0 and 2.299 indicates secure genus identification and probable species identification, a score value between 1.7 and 1.999 indicates probable genus identification, and a score value <1.7 indicates no reliable identification.
Cluster analysis was performed based on a comparison of strain-specific main spectra, created as described above. The dendrogram was constructed by the statistical toolbox of Matlab 7.1 (MathWorks Inc., Natick, MA, USA) integrated in the MALDI Biotyper 3.0 software. The parameter settings were: ‘Distance Measure=Euclidean’ and ‘Linkage=Complete’. The linkage function is normalized according to the distance between 0 (perfect match) and 1000 (no match).

2.3. Phylogenetic Analysis of pheS Gene

The amplification and sequencing of pheS gene was carried out as indicated by Doan et al. [17] using the primers pheS-21-F (5’-CAYCCNGCHCGYGAYATGC-3’) and pheS-23-R (5’-GGRTGRACCATVCCNGCHCC-3’). The sequences obtained were compared with those from the GenBank using the BLASTN program [20]. The obtained sequences and those of related bacteria retrieved from GenBank were aligned using the Clustal W program [21]. The phylogenetic distances were calculated according to Kimura´s two-parameter model [22]. The phylogenetic trees were inferred using the neighbour joining model [23] and MEGA 7.09 [24] was used for all the phylogenetic analyses.

2.4. Genome Analysis of the Subspecies from the Species Identified in this Study

The Average nucleotide identity blast (ANIb) and Digital DNA–DNA hybridization (dDDH) was calculated using the JSpecies service [25] (http://imedea.uib-csic.es/jspecies/) and dDDH values were calculated using the genome-to-genome distance calculator website service from DSMZ (GGDC 2.1) [26] (http://ggdc.dsmz.de/ggdc.php/). These values were calculated using the formula two at the GGDC website because it is the only function appropriate to analyse draft genomes [27].

3. Results

3.1. MALDI-TOF MS Analysis

The results of this analysis showed that the isolated strains belong to different genera and species of LAB, namely La. curvatus, La. diolivorans, La. paracasei, La. plantarum, La. rhamnosus, Le. mesenteroides and Lc. lactis. All our strains matched with score values near or higher than 2.0 with strains of these species available in the Biotyper 3.0 database (Table 1). Nevertheless, in most cases, the first matching strain is not the strain type of the identified species, and therefore the identification must be confirmed by gene analysis. In order to select representative strains for this analysis, we grouped the isolated strains through mathematical analysis of their, and the resulting dendrogram is shown in Figure 1.
The strains were distributed into seven groups with similarity values lower than 2, which correspond to the different species identified in this study (Figure 1). Group I encompasses strains that matched with score values higher than 2.0 with Le. mesenteroides strains and was divided into two subgroups. The strains from the subgroup IA matched with the type strains of Le. mesenteroides subsp. mesenteroides DSM 20343T and Le. mesenteroides subsp. cremoris DSM 20346T and with the non-type strain of Le. mesenteroides subsp. dextranicum DSM 20187 with score values lower than 2.3, whereas those from the subgroup IB matched with the type strain of Le. mesenteroides subsp. mesenteroides DSM 20343T with score values higher than 2.3 (Table 1).
Group II encompasses strains that matched with the type strain of La. diolivorans DSM 14421T and comprised the independent branch IIA and the subgroup IIB (Figure 1). The strain CCDET 55 formed an independent branch and matched with the type strain of La. diolivorans DSM 14421T with a score value lower than 2.0, whereas the strains from subgroup IIB matched with score values higher than 2.0 and lower than 2.3 with the same type strain (Table 1).
Group III encompasses strains that matched with score values higher than 2.0 with Lc. lactis strains (Figure 1). All strains isolated in this study matched with the non-type strain Lc. lactis subsp. lactis DSM 20661, with score values near to or higher than 2.3 with Lc. lactis subsp. lactis DSM 20481T with score values lower than 2.3 and with Lc. lactis subsp. cremoris DSM 20069T with score values lower than 2.0 in most of cases (Table 1).
Group IV encompasses two strains that matched with score values higher than 2.0 with La. plantarum strains (Figure 1). The strain CCDET07 matched with score values higher than 2.3 with the non type strain La. plantarum DSM 2601 and with the type strain of La. plantarum subsp. argentoratensis DSM 16365T, whereas these values were lower than 2.3 with respect to the type strain of La. plantarum subsp. plantarum DSM 20174T. The strain CCDET27 matched with score values higher than 2.0 with respect to the non-type strain La. plantarum DSM 12028 and with the type strain of La. plantarum subsp. argentoratensis DSM 16365T, whereas these values were lower than 2.0 with respect to the type strain of La. plantarum subsp. plantarum DSM 20174T (Table 1).
Group V encompasses strains matching with score values higher than 2.0 with La. curvatus strains (Figure 1). The higher score values, near or higher than 2.3, were found with respect to the non-type strain DSM 20499, whereas these values were lower than 2.3 with respect to the type strain of La. curvatus DSM 20499T (Table 1).
Group VI encompasses strains that matched with the type strain of La. rhamnosus CIP A157T with score values higher than 2.3 in all cases (Figure 1, Table 1).
Finally, group VII encompasses strains that matched with score values higher than 2.0 with La. paracasei strains (Figure 1). This group was divided into two subgroups whose strains mostly matched with score values higher than 2.3 with different non-type strains of La. paracasei subsp. paracasei (DSM 20006, DSM 20244, DSM 2649, DSM 20312 or DSM 8741). Only the strain CCDET19 matched with values higher than 2.3 with respect to the type strain of La. paracasei subsp. tolerans DSM 20258T and the remaining strains matched with La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 5622T and/or La. paracasei subsp. tolerans DSM 20258T with score values lower, near or higher than 2.0, but in all cases lower than 2.3 (Table 1).
Since the type strains of several subspecies identified in this study are included in the Biotyper 3.0 database, we calculated the score values between the subspecies from the same species (Table 2). Score values higher than 2.3, typically found in strains from the same species, were presented by the type strains of the subspecies plantarum and argentoratensis of La. plantarum (2.424) and by those of the subspecies mesenteroides and cremoris of Le. mesenteroides (2.456). However, score values lower than 2.3, which can be found in strains of different species, were found between by the type strains of the subspecies lactis and cremoris of Lc. lactis (2.174) and by those of the subspecies paracasei and tolerans of La. paracasei (1.846). These results show the need to carry out genetic analyses to verify the taxonomic status of these subspecies.

3.2. pheS Gene Analysis

The analysis of partial sequences of pheS gene of representative strains of different MALDI-TOF MS groups are shown in Figure 2 and Table 2 and Table 3. The results of this analysis confirmed the identification obtained after MALDI-TOF MS analysis at genus and species levels for all strains isolated in this study.
According to the results of the pheS gene analysis, several strains were identified with high similarity values as Lactobacillus species that, to date, do not encompasses subspecies (Figure 2A, Table 3). The strains TRRT03, TRRT32 representative of group VI, were identified as La. rhamnosus with 100% similarity. The strain CCDET55, representative of subgroup IIA, and the strains CCDET04, CCDET57, representative of subgroup IIB, were identified as La. diolivorans with 99.3% similarity. The strain TRRT34, representative of group V, was identified as La. curvatus with 99.2% similarity.
After the pheS gene analysis, the remaining strains were identified with high similarity values with LABs of species that contain two or more subspecies (Figure 2A, Table 3). This happened in the case of the strain CCDET07, representative of group IV, which was identified as La. plantarum which currently encompasses two subspecies, L. plantarum subsp. plantarum and L. plantarum subsp. argentoratensis, whose type strains showed 90.5% similarity in their pheS gene sequences (Table 2). The strain CCDET07, representative of group II, can be assigned to the subspecies plantarum, since it presented 100% similarity with respect to the type strain of this subspecies and 90.5% similarity with respect to the type strain of the subspecies argentoratensis (Figure 2B, Table 3).
The representative strains from group I were identified with pheS gene similarity values higher than 99.2% with the species Le. mesenteroides, whose subspecies mesenteroides, cremoris, dextranicum and jonggajibkimchii showed values ranging from 99.2% to 99.7% (Figure 2B, Table 2). The strains CCDET66, CCDET68 representative of subgroup IA were slightly more closesly related to the type strain of Le. mesenteroides subsp. cremoris, with 99.7% similarity, than to the type strains of the remaining subspecies, with similarity values ranging from 99.2% to 99.5%. The strains TRRT07, TRRT36, representative of subgroup IB, presented 100% similarity with respect to the type strain of Le. mesenteroides subsp. jonggajibkimchii, and values ranging from 99.5% to 99.7% with respect to the type strains of the other three subspecies. Therefore, the strains from the group IB can be assigned to the subspecies Le. mesenteroides subsp. jonggajibkimchii, whereas it is difficult to assign those of group IA to any of the subspecies from Le. mesenteroides (Figure 2B, Table 3).
The representative strains from group III were identified with pheS gene similarity values higher than 99.0% as Lc. lactis, whose subspecies formed two clearly separated clusters with less than 93% similarity (Figure 2B, Table 2). Cluster I contains the subspecies lactis and hordniae showing 99.2% similarity and cluster II the subspecies cremoris and tructae, showing 98.5% similarity (Table 2). The strains TRRT10, TRRT20, representative of group III, belong to cluster II and, since they presented 99.0% and 99.5% similarity, respectively, to the subspecies lactis and hordniae, it is difficult to assign the strains of group III to any of these two subspecies (Figure 2B, Table 3).
The representative strains from group VII with pheS gene similarity values higher than 99.5% were identified as La. paracasei, which contains two subspecies, paracasei and tolerans, showing 99.5% similarity between their type strains (Figure 2A, Table 2). The representative strains for both subgroups VIIA and VIIB were divided into two subclusters with 99.5% similarity, each one containing strains of these both subgroups (Figure 2A). The strains CCDET51 and CCDET16 can be assigned to the subspecies paracasei since they showed 100% similarity with the type strain of this subspecies, however, the strains CCDET29 and CCDET46 cannot be assigned to these subspecies because they showed 99.5% similarity with respect to their type strains (Figure 2A, Table 3).
Therefore, the identification at species level obtained by MALDI-TOF MS was confirmed by pheS gene sequencing. Moreover, the pheS gene analysis supports the identification at subspecies level for some strains isolated in this work, but it is remarkable that several others cannot be assigned to any subspecies because they formed subclusters whose similarity values are similar to those found among the currently accepted subspecies of LAB identified in this study.
Collectively, the data from MALDI-TOF MS and pheS gene analyses showed that most of the strains isolated from “Torta del Casar” belong to the species La. paracasei, which was also present in “Torta de Trujillo” and that the species Le. mesenteroides was present in both cheeses in similar proportions. However, other species only were found in one of the two cheeses, La. diolivorans and La. plantarum in “Torta del Casar”, and La. curvatus, La. rhamnosus and Lc. lactis in “Torta de Trujillo” (Figure 3, Table 2).

3.3. Taxonomic Status of the Subspecies from the Species Identified in this Study

The pheS gene analysis showed that similarity values ranging from 98.5% to 99.7% are presented by the type strains of the subspecies of La. paracasei and Le. mesenteroides, whereas values lower than 93% were found between the type strains of the subspecies of La. plantarum and those of some subspecies of Lc. lactis (Table 2). These results should be compared with those obtained after whole genome analysis, taking into account the threshold values of ANIb and dDDH for bacterial species differentiation (95%~96% and 70%, respectively) [28] and the dDDH cut-off values for bacterial subspecies differentiation (79%~80%) [29].
The whole genomes of the type strains of all subspecies found in this study are available in Genbank and we calculated the ANIb and dDDH values for all of them, whether or not they are present in the Biotyper 3.0 database (Table 2). In agreement with the results of both pheS gene and MALDI-TOF MS analyses, the type strains of the subspecies mesenteroides and cremoris of Le. mesenteroides showed ANIb and dDDH values typical of the same species, 98.1% and 90.9%, respectively (Table 2). Concerning the subspecies dextranicum and jonggajibkimchii, whose type strains are not in Biotyper 3.0 database, in agreement with the results of pheS gene analysis, their ANIb and dDDH values, between them and with respect to the remaining two subspecies, were higher than those proposed for bacterial species differentiation (Table 2).
In agreement with the results of both pheS gene and MALDI-TOF MS analyses, the type strains of the subspecies lactis and cremoris of Lc. lactis showed ANIb and dDDH values typical of different species, 86.7% and 33.1 %, respectively (Table 2). These results confirmed that the type strains of the subspecies cremoris and lactis belong to different species, making it necessary to reclassify the subspecies cremoris into a different, novel species. Nevertheless, it is also necessary to analyse the two subspecies of Lc. lactis that are not present in the Biotyper 3.0 database, as the pheS gene analysis showed that they belong to two divergent clusters, one of them containing the type strains of the subspecies lactis and hordniae and the other containing the type strains of the subspecies cremoris and tructae. Taking into account the ANIb and dDDH values found among the type strains of these subspecies, the subspecies hordniae should be maintained within the species Lc. lactis, and the subspecies tructae, together with the subspecies cremoris, should be transferred to a novel species (Table 2).
In agreement with the results of the pheS gene analysis, but not with those of MALDI-TOF MS analysis, the type strains of the subspecies plantarum and argentoratensis of La. plantarum, which showed ANIb and dDDH values typical of different species, 94.9% and 62.9%, respectively, should be considered different species, making it necessary to reclassify the subspecies argentoratensis in a novel species. In agreement with the results of the pheS gene analysis, but not with those of MALDI-TOF MS analysis, the type strains of the subspecies paracasei and tolerans of La. paracasei showed ANIb and dDDH values typical of the same species, 97.9% and 84.9%, respectively (Table 2).

4. Discussion

There is a growing interest in the identification of LAB present in artisanal cheeses elaborated with raw milk in Europe, with those elaborated with cow or/and goat raw milks being more analysed [6,7,8,10,11,13] compared to those elaborated with ewe’s raw milk [5,9].
In Spain, one of the most appreciated cheeses is the named type “Torta”, elaborated with ewe’s raw milk in Caceres province, and therefore it is also interesting to know the species of LAB present in these cheeses. In a work published in the last century, the lactic bacteria present in the “Torta del Casar” cheese were identified on the basis of phenotypic traits [4]. More recently, by 16S rRNA gene analysis, the species Lactobacillus sakei, Lactobacillus casei, Lactobacillus helveticus and Lc. lactis subsp. cremoris have been identified in this cheese [5]. These two works were only carried out in the “Torta del Casar” cheese and using techniques that have limitations for species and particularly for subspecies differentiation. For this reason, in this study we compared the results obtained in two cheeses type “Torta” elaborated in the same region by using more recent methodologies. From the species previously identified in the “Torta del Casar” cheese [5], in the present work only L. lactis has been identified in the “Torta de Trujillo” cheese. Nevertheless, the species identified in this study have been found in some of the European artisanal cheeses elaborated with raw milk [7,8,9,10,11,12,13].
From the mentioned cheeses, only the LAB present in the French cheese Maroilles were identified by MALDI-TOF MS [13]. The authors showed that this methodology is very useful to identify LAB belonging to different genera and species, but they do not demonstrate its usefulness in differentiating among subspecies. Considering that many species of LAB contain several subspecies, this is an essential issue to be discussed by comparison with other molecular techniques, particularly genomic ones.
In this study, we identified four species which contain several subspecies, La. plantarum, La. paracasei, Le. mesenteroides and Lc. lactis (http://www.bacterio.net/) of which the most common inhabitants in milk-related sources are present in the database Biotyper 3.0. In addition to the type strain, several strains are included in this database for Le. mesenteroides subsp. mesenteroides, Lc. lactis subsp. lactis, Lc. lactis subsp. cremoris, La. paracasei subsp. paracasei, La. paracasei subsp. tolerans and La. plantarum subsp. plantarum. The presence of most than one strain for a taxon in a database is a priori positive, but this can be an important disadvantage if some strains are not correctly assigned to a taxon, as seems to occur for several strains from the subspecies of Le. mesenteroides, Lc. lactis, La. paracasei and La. Plantarum, present in the Biotyper 3.0 database. For example, the non-type strain of La. plantarum subsp. plantarum DSM 20205 is more distant from the type strain of this subspecies than the type strain of La. plantarum subsp. argentoratensis (Figure 4A). In the case of La. paracasei, there is a greater distance among strains of the same subspecies than among strains of different species (Figure 4A). In the case of Le. mesenteroides, the non-type strain Le. mesenteroides subsp. mesenteroides DSM 2040 is more distant from the type strain of this subspecies than the strain Le. mesenteroides subsp. dextranicum DSM 20187 (Figure 4B). Several strains assigned to Lc. lactis subsp. lactis are more distant from the type strain of this subspecies than to that of Lc. lactis subsp. cremoris (Figure 4B). These results indicate that several non-type strains held in DSMZ culture collection which are included in the Biotyper 3.0 database are not correctly classified at species or subspecies levels, but, as no gene sequences are available for these strains, we cannot know their correct taxonomic name and this could lead to errors in the identification of any tested strain. For this reason, we always referred to a type strain in the identification of our strains, although the score values were lower than those found for non-type strains (Table 1).
Moreover, we found some surprising score values for the type strains of the subspecies from La. paracasei and Lc. lactis because the subspecies are infraspecific taxa and score values higher than 2.3 among these subspecies are expected after MALDI-TOF MS analysis (Table 2). In the case of the type strains of the subspecies paracasei and tolerans of La. paracasei, the score value was clearly lower than 2.0, indicating that these strains do not belong to the same species (Table 2). This contrasts with the high similarity value of the pheS gene sequences and the high ANIb and dDDH values calculated from their genomes (Table 2). These two values, which are clearly higher than those proposed for species differentiation [28], confirmed that the type strains of paracasei and tolerans belong to the same species, therefore the type strains of these subspecies held in DSMZ culture collection and in the Biotyper 3.0 database should be revised. In addition, they showed that the dDDH values are higher than those proposed for subspecies differentiation [29], therefore the taxonomic status of these subspecies should be revised.
In the case of the type strains of the subspecies lactis and cremoris of Lc. lactis, the low values found in the pheS gene analysis agree with the calculated ANIb and dDDH values, which were lower than those proposed for species differentiation, confirming that they belong to different species (Table 2). Concerning to the other two subspecies, hordniae and tructae, not included in Biotyper database, the pheS gene analysis showed that their type strains are phylogenetically related to the subspecies lactis and cremoris, respectively (Table 2). The calculated ANIb and dDDH values confirmed that Lc. lactis really contains two different species with two subspecies each, although the dDDH values were near to or slightly lower than those proposed for subspecies differentiation in both cases (Table 2). These results clearly indicate that the taxonomic status of the subspecies currently included within Lc. lactis should be revised in order to separate the subspecies cremoris as a novel species and to evaluate whether the subspecies hordniae and tructae can maintain their current taxonomic status.
Conversely, the score value found between the type strains of the subspecies plantarum and argentoratensis of La. plantarum was surprisingly high (2.424) considering the low similarity value found between their pheS genes (90.5%), and that the calculated ANIb and dDDH values were lower than those proposed for bacterial species differentiation (Table 2). These results indicate that the type strain of the subspecies argentoratensis held in DSMZ culture collection and in the Biotyper 3.0 database should be revised and that it should be reclassified as a novel species.
In the case of the subspecies mesenteroides and cremoris of Le. mesenteroides score, values higher than 2.3 were expected, as this corresponds to strains from the same species (Table 2). In agreement, they showed high similarity in their pheS genes and the calculated ANIb and dDDH values were higher than those proposed for bacterial species differentiation (Table 2). In the case of the subspecies dextranicum and jonggajibkimchii, absent in the Biotyper 3.0 database, the pheS gene analysis also showed high similarity values in agreement with those of the ANIb and dDDH, which were also higher than those proposed for bacterial species’ differentiation. Moreover, the dDDH values among the type strains of all these subspecies considerably exceed the upper limit proposed for subspecies differentiation, and therefore their taxonomic status should be revised.
Therefore, the application of the currently accepted ANIb and dDDH cut-off values for species differentiation [28] will lead to the promotion of some subspecies to the taxonomic status of species. Conversely, the application of the dDDH threshold value for subspecies differentiation [29] will lead to the loss of taxonomic status for some subspecies, as recently occurred with the subspecies sakuensis of Serratia marcescens [30]. Although Chun et al. [28] considered that currently there is not enough information to establish general guidelines for species differentiation on the basis of genome data, we face the dilemma of whether to increase the dDDH threshold value for subspecies differentiation, maintain the existing ones, or reject many of the existing subspecies in several species of LAB. Before trying to solve this, we should take into account that the increase necessary to maintain the current subspecies would cause a dramatic increase in the number of these taxa, since the pheS gene similarity cut-off values would be above 99% and only in this study several strains cannot be assigned to any of the described subspecies because they fall within these limits and could be considered as novel subspecies. We should also consider that applying the dDDH thresholds values proposed by Meier-Kolthoff et al. [29] would mean that none of the subspecies from the species identified in this study can maintain their taxonomic status, except perhaps the subspecies hordniae of Lc. lactis. This second option better agrees with the results of the MALDI-TOF MS analysis that clearly allows the identification of the strains isolated at species level, compared to identification at subspecies level. In any case, this situation should be clarified, since it affects several LABs from different genera and species, and currently there is an increasing interest in the identification of these bacteria, particularly in fermented foods.

5. Conclusions

The LAB present in the two cheeses of type “Torta” analysed in this study were identified as La. curvatus, La. diolivorans, La. paracasei, La. plantarum, La. rhamnosus, Lc. lactis and Le. mesenteroides through MALDI-TOF MS and pheS gene analyses. These results confirmed that MALDI-TOF MS is a reliable method for the identification of LAB comparable to pheS gene sequence analysis and presents important advantages over gene sequencing in terms of rapidity and cost per sample. The analysis of pheS gene showed low similarity values for some subspecies of Lc. lactis and for the two subspecies of La. plantarum and values near to 100% for the subspecies of Le. mesenteroides and La. paracasei. These results were confirmed by the calculated ANIb and dDDH values of their whole genomes, showing the need for a revision of the taxonomic status of these species and their subspecies, which should be based on additional criteria.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, J.D.F.-F., E.V. and F.S.-J.; methodology, F.S.-J E.V. and J.D.F.-F.; software, J.D.F.-F. and F.S.-J.; validation, J.D.F.-F. and J.M.G.-B.; formal analysis, V.T.-M., E.V., F.S.J. and J.D.F.-F.; investigation, J.D.F.-F., V.T.-M., E.V., F.S.-J. and J.M.G.-B.; data curation, E.V. and F.S.-J.; writing—original draft preparation, F.S.-J., J.D.F.-F. and E.V.; writing—review and editing, F.S.-J., J.D.F.-F., V.T.-M., J.M.G.-B. and E.V.; visualization, F.S.-J., J.D.F.-F., V.T.-M., J.M.G.-B. and E.V.; supervision, F.S.-J. and J.D.F.-F. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Funding

This research received no external funding

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the Strategic Research Programs for Units of Excellence from Junta de Castilla y León (CLU-2O18-04). The pheS genes were sequenced in the Sequencing DNA service (NUCLEUS) from Salamanca University (Spain).

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Abbreviations

LABLactic acid bacteria
La.Lactobacillus
Le.Leuconostoc
Lc.Lactococcus

References

  1. Ludwig, W.; Schleifer, K.H.; Whitman, W.B. Lactobacillales ord. nov. In Bergey’s Manual of Systematics of Archaea and Bacteria; Whitman, W.B., Rainey, F., Kämpfer, P., Trujillo, M., Chun, J., DeVos, P., Hedlund, B., Dedysh, S., Eds.; Wiley Online Library: Hoboken, NJ, USA, 2015. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  2. Zielińska, D.; Kolożyn-Krajewska, D. Food-origin lactic acid bacteria may exhibit probiotic properties: Review. Biomed Res. Int. 2018, 2018, 5063185. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [Green Version]
  3. Ruiz-Rodríguez, L.; Bleckwedel, J.; Ortiz, E.; Pescuma, M.; Mozzi, F. Lactic Acid Bacteria. In Industrial Biotechnology; Wittmann, C., Liao, J.C., Eds.; Wiley-VCH: Weinheim, Germany, 2016; pp. 395–451. [Google Scholar]
  4. Poullet, B.; Huertas, M.; Sánchez, A.; Cáceres, P.; Larriba, G. Main lactic acid bacteria isolated during ripening of Casar de Caceres cheese. J. Dairy Res. 1993, 60, 123–127. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  5. Ordiales, J.; Benito, M.J.; Martín, A.; Casquete, R.; Serradilla, M.J.; de Guía Córdoba, M. Bacterial communities of the traditional raw ewe’s milk cheese “Torta del Casar” made without the addition of a starter. Food Control 2013, 33, 448–454. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  6. Morandi, S.; Brasca, M.; Lodi, R. Technological, phenotypic and genotypic characterisation of wild lactic acid bacteria involved in the production of Bitto PDO Italian cheese. Dairy Sci. Technol. 2011, 91, 341–359. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  7. Colombo, E.; Franzetti, L.; Frusca, M.; Scarpellini, M. Phenotypic and genotypic characterization of lactic acid bacteria isolated from Artisanal Italian goat cheese. J. Food Prot. 2010, 73, 657–662. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  8. Pogačić, T.; Mancini, A.; Santarelli, M.; Bottari, B.; Lazzi, C.; Neviani, E.; Gatti, M. Diversity and dynamic of lactic acid bacteria strains during aging of a long ripened hard cheese produced from raw milk and undefined natural starter. Food Microbiol. 2013, 36, 207–215. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  9. Pangallo, D.; Saková, N.; Koreňová, J.; Puškárová, A.; Kraková, L.; Valík, L.; Kuchta, T. Microbial diversity and dynamics during the production of May bryndza cheese. Int. J. Food Microbiol. 2014, 170, 38–43. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  10. Franciosi, E.; Carafa, I.; Nardin, T.; Schiavon, S.; Poznanski, E.; Cavazza, A.; Larcher, R.; Tuohy, K.M. Biodiversity and γ-aminobutyric acid production by lactic acid bacteria isolated from traditional alpine raw cow’s milk cheeses. Biomed Res. Int. 2015, 2015, 625740. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [Green Version]
  11. Domingos-Lopes, M.F.P.; Stanton, C.; Ross, P.R.; Dapkevicius, M.L.E.; Silva, C.C.G. Genetic diversity, safety and technological characterization of lactic acid bacteria isolated from artisanal Pico cheese. Food Microbiol. 2017, 63, 178–190. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  12. Foschi, C.; Laghi, L.; Parolin, C.; Giordani, B.; Compri, M.; Cevenini, R.; Marangoni, A.; Vitali, B. Novel approaches for the taxonomic and metabolic characterization of lactobacilli: Integration of 16S rRNA gene sequencing with MALDI-TOF MS and 1H-NMR. PLoS ONE 2017, 12, e0172483. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [Green Version]
  13. Nacef, M.; Chevalier, M.; Chollet, S.; Drider, D.; Flahaut, C. MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry for the identification of lactic acid bacteria isolated from a French cheese: The Maroilles. Int. J. Food Microbiol. 2017, 247, 2–8. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  14. Sato, H.; Torimura, M.; Kitahara, M.; Ohkuma, M.; Hotta, Y.; Tamura, H. Characterization of the Lactobacillus casei group based on the profiling of ribosomal proteins coded in S10-spc-alpha operons as observed by MALDI-TOF MS. Syst. Appl. Microbiol. 2012, 35, 447–454. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  15. Soro-Yao, A.A.; Schumann, P.; Thonart, P.; Djè, K.M.; Pukall, R. The use of MALDI-TOF Mass Spectrometry, ribotyping and phenotypic tests to identify lactic acid bacteria from fermented cereal foods in Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire). Open Microbiol. J. 2014, 8, 78–86. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [Green Version]
  16. Tanigawa, K.; Kawabata, H.; Watanabe, K. Identification and typing of Lactococcus lactis by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 2010, 76, 4055–4062. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [Green Version]
  17. Doan, N.T.; Van Hoorde, K.; Cnockaert, M.; De Brandt, E.; Aerts, M.; Le Thanh, B.; Vandamme, P. Validation of MALDI-TOF MS for rapid classification and identification of lactic acid bacteria, with a focus on isolates from traditional fermented foods in Northern Vietnam. Lett. Appl. Microbiol. 2012, 55, 265–273. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  18. Nguyen, D.T.; Van Hoorde, K.; Cnockaert, M.; De Brandt, E.; Aerts, M.; Binh Thanh, L.; Vandamme, P. A description of the lactic acid bacteria microbiota associated with the production of traditional fermented vegetables in Vietnam. Int. J. Food Microbiol. 2013, 163, 19–27. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  19. Ferreira, L.; Sánchez-Juanes, F.; García-Fraile, P.; Rivas, R.; Mateos, P.F.; Martínez-Molina, E.; González-Buitrago, J.M.; Velázquez, E. MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry is a fast and reliable platform for identification and ecological studies of species from family Rhizobiaceae. PLoS ONE 2011, 6, e20223. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [Green Version]
  20. Altschul, S.F.; Gish, W.; Miller, W.; Myers, E.W.; Lipman, D.J. Basic local alignment search tool. J. Mol. Biol. 1990, 215, 403–410. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  21. Thompson, J.D.; Gibson, T.J.; Plewniak, F.; Jeanmougin, F.; Higgins, D.G. The clustalX windows interface: Flexible strategies for multiple sequence alignement aided by quality analysis tools. Nucleic Acids Res. 1997, 24, 4876–4882. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [Green Version]
  22. Kimura, M. A simple method for estimating evolutionary rates of base substitutions through comparative studies of nucleotide sequences. J. Mol. Evol. 1980, 16, 111–120. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  23. Saitou, N.; Nei, M. A neighbour-joining method: A new method for reconstructing phylogenetics trees. Mol. Biol. Evol. 1987, 44, 406–425. [Google Scholar]
  24. Kumar, S.; Stecher, G.; Tamura, K. MEGA7: Molecular Evolutionary Genetics Analysis Version 7.0 for Bigger Datasets. Mol. Biol. Evol. 2016, 3, 1870–1874. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [Green Version]
  25. Richter, M.; Rosselló-Mora, R.; Glöckner, F.O.; Peplies, J. JSpeciesWS: A web server for prokaryotic species circumscription based on pairwise genome comparison. Bioinformatics 2016, 32, 929–931. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  26. Meier-Kolthoff, J.P.; Auch, A.F.; Klenk, H.P.; Göker, M. Genome sequence-based species delimitation with confidence intervals and improved distance functions. BMC Bioinform. 2013, 14, 60. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [Green Version]
  27. Auch, A.F.; von Jan, M.; Klenk, H.P.; Göker, M. Digital DNA–DNA hybridization for microbial species delineation by means of genome-to-genome sequence comparison. Stand. Genom. Sci. 2010, 2, 117–134. [Google Scholar]
  28. Chun, J.; Oren, A.; Ventosa, A.; Christensen, H.; Arahal, D.R.; da Costa, M.S.; Rooney, A.P.; Yi, H.; Xu, X.W.; De Meyer, S.; et al. Proposed minimal standards for the use of genome data for the taxonomy of prokaryotes. Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol. 2018, 68, 461–466. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  29. Meier-Kolthoff, J.P.; Hahnke, R.L.; Petersen, J.; Scheuner, C.; Michael, V.; Fiebig, A.; Rohde, C.; Rohde, M.; Fartmann, B.; Goodwin, L.A.; et al. Complete genome sequence of DSM 30083(T), the type strain (U5/41(T) of Escherichia coli, and a proposal for delineating subspecies in microbial taxonomy. Stand. Genomic. Sci. 2014, 9, 2. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [Green Version]
  30. Doijad, S.; Chakraborty, T. Genome-based analyses indicate that Serratia marcescens subsp. marcescens and Serratia marcescens subsp. sakuensis do not merit separation to subspecies status. Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol. 2019, 69, 3924–3926. [Google Scholar]
Figure 1. Cluster analysis of MALDI-TOF MS spectra of strains isolated in this study. Distance is displayed in relative units. Representative strains of each group selected for pheS gene analysis are marked in bold.
Figure 1. Cluster analysis of MALDI-TOF MS spectra of strains isolated in this study. Distance is displayed in relative units. Representative strains of each group selected for pheS gene analysis are marked in bold.
Microorganisms 08 00301 g001
Figure 2. (A) Neighbour-joining phylogenetic unrooted tree based on pheS gene partial sequences (400 nt) showing the taxonomic location of representative strains from different groups of MALDI-TOF MS within the genus Lactobacillus. (B) Neighbour-joining phylogenetic unrooted tree based on pheS gene partial sequences (400 nt) showing the taxonomic location of representative strains from different groups of MALDI-TOF MS within the genera Lactobacillus and Leuconostoc. Bootstrap values calculated for 1000 replications are indicated. Bar, 5 nt substitution per 1000 nt. Accession numbers from Genbank are given in brackets.
Figure 2. (A) Neighbour-joining phylogenetic unrooted tree based on pheS gene partial sequences (400 nt) showing the taxonomic location of representative strains from different groups of MALDI-TOF MS within the genus Lactobacillus. (B) Neighbour-joining phylogenetic unrooted tree based on pheS gene partial sequences (400 nt) showing the taxonomic location of representative strains from different groups of MALDI-TOF MS within the genera Lactobacillus and Leuconostoc. Bootstrap values calculated for 1000 replications are indicated. Bar, 5 nt substitution per 1000 nt. Accession numbers from Genbank are given in brackets.
Microorganisms 08 00301 g002
Figure 3. Pie charts showing the distribution of the different species of LAB in the two cheeses type “Torta” analysed in this study.
Figure 3. Pie charts showing the distribution of the different species of LAB in the two cheeses type “Torta” analysed in this study.
Microorganisms 08 00301 g003
Figure 4. Cluster analysis of MALDI-TOF MS spectra of the strains belonging to the species identified in this study which are included in the biotyper 3.0 database within genera Lactobacillus (A) and Leuconostoc and Lactococcus (B). Distance is displayed in relative units.
Figure 4. Cluster analysis of MALDI-TOF MS spectra of the strains belonging to the species identified in this study which are included in the biotyper 3.0 database within genera Lactobacillus (A) and Leuconostoc and Lactococcus (B). Distance is displayed in relative units.
Microorganisms 08 00301 g004
Table 1. Results obtained using MALDI-TOF MS analysis.
Table 1. Results obtained using MALDI-TOF MS analysis.
Torta del Casar
StrainsClosest TaxaScore ValuesGroups
CCDET 01La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 200062.502VIIB
La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 5622T2.194
La. paracasei subsp. tolerans DSM 20258T1.960
CCDET 04La. diolivorans DSM 14421T2.228IIB
CCDET 05La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 200062.504VIIB
La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 5622T2.193
La. paracasei subsp. tolerans DSM 20258T2.174
CCDET 07La. plantarum DSM 26012.478IV
La. plantarum subsp. argentoratensis DSM 16365T 2.322
La. plantarum subsp. plantarum DSM 20174T2.037
CCDET 09La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 200062.511VIIB
La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 5622T2.128
La. paracasei subsp. tolerans DSM 20258T1.476
CCDET 10La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 200062.483VIIB
La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 5622T2.097
La. paracasei subsp. tolerans DSM 20258T2.051
CCDET 11La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 202442.517VIIB
La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 5622T2.063
La. paracasei subsp. tolerans DSM 20258T1.911
CCDET 12La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 200062.433VIIB
La. paracasei subsp. tolerans DSM 20258T2.113
La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 5622T2.018
CCDET 13La. diolivorans DSM 14421T2.218IIB
CCDET 14La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 26492.43VIIB
La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 5622T2.047
La. paracasei subsp. tolerans DSM 20258T1.773
CCDET 15La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 200062.531VIIB
La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 5622T2.053
La. paracasei subsp. tolerans DSM 20258T1.542
CCDET 16La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 200062.545VIIB
La. paracasei subsp. tolerans DSM 20258T2.147
La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 5622T2.112
CCDET 18La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 200062.463VIIB
La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 5622T2.107
La. paracasei subsp. tolerans DSM 20258T1.911
CCDET19La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 202442.500VIIA
La. paracasei subsp. tolerans DSM 20258T2.309
La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 5622T2.103
CCDET20Le. mesenteroides subsp. dextranicum DSM 201872.062IA
Le. mesenteroides subsp. mesenteroides DSM 20343T1.683
Le. mesenteroides subsp. cremoris DSM 20346T1.648
CCDET21La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 200062.337VIIB
La. paracasei subsp. tolerans DSM 20258T2.174
La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 5622T1.952
CCDET 22La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 200062.380VIIB
La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 5622TLa. paracasei subsp. tolerans DSM 20258T2.0401.752
CCDET 23La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 202442.397VIIB
La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 5622T1.938
La. paracasei subsp. tolerans DSM 20258T1.800
CCDET 24La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 203122.355VIIB
La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 5622T2.038
La. paracasei subsp. tolerans DSM 20258T1.897
CCDET 25La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 200062.544VIIB
La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 5622T2.115
La. paracasei subsp. tolerans DSM 20258T2.092
CCDET 26La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 200062.476VIIB
La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 5622T2.165
La. paracasei subsp. tolerans DSM 20258T2.033
CCDET 27La. plantarum subsp. plantarum DSM 120282.177IV
La. plantarum subsp. argentoratensis DSM 16365T 2.131
La. plantarum subsp. plantarum DSM 20174T1.963
CCDET 28La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 202442.386VIIB
La. paracasei subsp. tolerans DSM 20258T2.097
La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 5622T2.097
CCDET 29La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 463312.432VIIA
La. paracasei subsp. tolerans DSM 20258T2.224
La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 5622T2.072
CCDET 30La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 200062.492VIIB
La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 5622T2.157
La. paracasei subsp. tolerans DSM 20258T2.003
CCDET 32La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 200062.513VIIB
La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 5622T2.113
La. paracasei subsp. tolerans DSM 20258T1.540
CCDET 34La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 202442.444VIIB
La. paracasei subsp. tolerans DSM 20258T2.160
La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 5622T2.120
CCDET 35La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 200062.475VIIB
La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 5622T2.080
La. paracasei subsp. tolerans DSM 20258T1.962
CCDET 38La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 200062.452VIIB
La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 5622T2.112
La. paracasei subsp. tolerans DSM 20258T2.083
CCDET 39La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 200062.494VIIB
La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 5622T2.059
La. paracasei subsp. tolerans DSM 20258T1.847
CCDET 42La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 200062.223VIIB
La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 5622T1.871
La. paracasei subsp. tolerans DSM 20258T1.854
CCDET 43La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 202442.348VIIB
La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 5622T2.035
La. paracasei subsp. tolerans DSM 20258T1.990
CCDET 44La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 202442.339VIIB
La. paracasei subsp. tolerans DSM 20258T2.106
La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 5622T1.998
CCDET 45La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 202442.353VIIB
La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 5622T2.061
La. paracasei subsp. tolerans DSM 20258T2.053
CCDET 46La. diolivorans DSM 14421T2.235IIB
CCDET51La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 202442.437VIIA
La. paracasei subsp. tolerans DSM 20258T2.054
La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 5622T2.054
CCDET52Le. mesenteroides subsp. dextranicum DSM 201872.000IA
Le. mesenteroides subsp. cremoris DSM 20346T1.690
Le. mesenteroides subsp. mesenteroides DSM 20343T1.374
CCDET53Le. mesenteroides subsp. mesenteroides DSM 202412.120IA
Le. mesenteroides subsp. mesenteroides DSM 20343T2.106
Le. mesenteroides subsp. cremoris DSM 20346T1.961
CCDET 54La. diolivorans DSM 14421T2.003IIB
CCDET 55La. diolivorans DSM 14421T1.911IIB
CCDET 56La. diolivorans DSM 14421T2.093IIB
CCDET 57La. diolivorans DSM 14421T2.100IIB
CCDET 58La. diolivorans DSM 14421T2.149IIB
CCDET 59La. diolivorans DSM 14421T2.106IIB
CCDET 61La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 200062.353VIIA
La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 5622T2.170
La. paracasei subsp. tolerans DSM 20258T2.101
CCDET62La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 202442.536VIIA
La. paracasei subsp. tolerans DSM 20258T2.157
La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 5622T2.148
CCDET 63La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 87412.383VIIA
La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 5622T2.100
La. paracasei subsp. tolerans DSM 20258T2.082
CCDET64La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 202442.493VIIA
La. paracasei subsp. tolerans DSM 20258T2.149
La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 5622T2.092
CCDET65Le. mesenteroides subsp. dextranicum DSM 201872.072IA
Le. mesenteroides subsp. cremoris DSM 20346T1.692
Le. mesenteroides subsp. mesenteroides DSM 20343T1.454
CCDET66Le. mesenteroides subsp. dextranicum DSM 201872.071IA
Le. mesenteroides subsp. cremoris DSM 20346T1.633
Le. mesenteroides subsp. mesenteroides DSM 20343T1.355
CCDET67La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 202442.468VIIA
La. paracasei subsp. tolerans DSM 20258T2.233
La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 5622T2.047
CCDET68Le. mesenteroides subsp. mesenteroides DSM 20343T2.204IA
Le. mesenteroides subsp. dextranicum DSM 201872.089
Le. mesenteroides subsp. cremoris DSM 20346T1.953
Torta de Trujillo
StrainsClosest taxaScore valuesGroups
TRRT01La. rhamnosus CIP A157T2.362VI
TRRT02Lc. lactis subsp. lactis DSM 206612.433III
Lc. lactis subsp. lactis DSM 20481T2.149
Lc. lactis subsp. cremoris DSM 20069T1.913
TRRT03La. rhamnosus CIP A157T2.389VI
TRRT04La. curvatus DSM 204992.430V
La. curvatus DSM 20019T2.007
TRRT05La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 200062.393VIIB
La. paracasei subsp. tolerans DSM 20258T2.193
La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 5622T2.109
TRRT06Le. mesenteroides subsp. mesenteroides DSM 20343T2.368IB
Le. mesenteroides subsp. dextranicum DSM 201872.097
Le. mesenteroides subsp. cremoris DSM 20346T1.963
TRRT07Le. mesenteroides subsp. mesenteroides DSM 20343T2.380IB
Le. mesenteroides subsp. cremoris DSM 20346T2.221
Le. mesenteroides subsp. dextranicum DSM 201872.026
TRRT08Lc. lactis subsp. lactis DSM 206612.373III
Lc. lactis subsp. lactis DSM 20481T2.209
Lc. lactis subsp. cremoris DSM 20069T1.848
TRRT09Lc. lactis subsp. lactis DSM 206612.283III
Lc. lactis subsp. lactis DSM 20481T2.214
Lc. lactis subsp. cremoris DSM 20069T1.896
TRRT10Lc. lactis subsp. lactis DSM 206612.236III
Lc. lactis subsp. lactis DSM 20481T2.198
Lc. lactis subsp. cremoris DSM 20069T1.771
TRRT11La. rhamnosus CIP A157T2.366VI
TRRT12Lc. lactis subsp. lactis DSM 206612.310III
Lc. lactis subsp. lactis DSM 20481T2.150
Lc. lactis subsp. cremoris DSM 20069T1.983
TRRT13Lc. lactis subsp. lactis DSM 206612.392III
Lc. lactis subsp. lactis DSM 20481T2.255
Lc. lactis subsp. cremoris DSM 20069T1.988
TRRT14Lc. lactis subsp. lactis DSM 206612.371III
Lc. lactis subsp. lactis DSM 20481T2.223
Lc. lactis subsp. cremoris DSM 20069T1.901
TRRT15La. rhamnosus CIP A157T2.324VI
TRRT16Lc. lactis subsp. lactis DSM 206612.456III
Lc. lactis subsp. lactis DSM 20481T2.228
Lc. lactis subsp. cremoris DSM 20069T1.868
TRRT17La. rhamnosus CIP A157T2.360VI
TRRT18Lc. lactis subsp. lactis DSM 206612.521III
Lc. lactis subsp. lactis DSM 20481T2.215
Lc. lactis subsp. cremoris DSM 20069T1.998
TRRT19Lc. lactis subsp. lactis DSM 206612.514III
Lc. lactis subsp. lactis DSM 20481T2.196
Lc. lactis subsp. cremoris DSM 20069T1.927
TRRT20Lc. lactis subsp. lactis DSM 206612.461III
Lc. lactis subsp. lactis DSM 20481T2.157
Lc. lactis subsp. cremoris DSM 20069T1.992
TRRT21Lc. lactis subsp. lactis DSM 206612.538III
Lc. lactis subsp. lactis DSM 20481T2.226
Lc. lactis subsp. cremoris DSM 20069T2.045
TRRT22Lc. lactis subsp. lactis DSM 206612.345III
Lc. lactis subsp. lactis DSM 20481T2.286
Lc. lactis subsp. cremoris DSM 20069T1.955
TRRT23La. rhamnosus CIP A157T2.426VI
TRRT24Lc. lactis subsp. lactis DSM 206612.468III
Lc. lactis subsp. lactis DSM 20481T2.243
Lc. lactis subsp. cremoris DSM 20069T2.036
TRRT25La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 200062.425VIIB
La. paracasei subsp. tolerans DSM 20258T2.181
La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 5622T2.144
TRRT26La. rhamnosus CIP A157T2.357VI
TRRT28Le. mesenteroides subsp. mesenteroides DSM 20343T2.358IB
Le. mesenteroides subsp. dextranicum DSM 201872.090
Le. mesenteroides subsp. cremoris DSM 20346T2.044
TRRT30La. curvatus DSM 204992.340V
La. curvatus DSM 20019T2.116
TRRT31La. rhamnosus CIP A157T2.433VI
TRRT32La. rhamnosus CIP A157T2.350VI
TRRT33La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 200062.435VIIB
La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 5622T2.136
La. paracasei subsp. tolerans DSM 20258T2.103
TRRT34La. curvatus DSM 204992.405V
La. curvatus DSM 20019T2.166
TRRT35La. rhamnosus CIP A157T2.367VI
TRRT36Le. mesenteroides subsp. mesenteroides DSM 20343T2.389IB
Le. mesenteroides subsp. dextranicum DSM 201872.035
Le. mesenteroides subsp. cremoris DSM 20346T1.985
TRRT37La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 200062.448VIIB
La. paracasei subsp. tolerans DSM 20258T2.114
La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 5622T2.000
TRRT38Le. mesenteroides subsp. mesenteroides DSM 20343T2.359IB
Le. mesenteroides subsp. dextranicum DSM 201872.131
Le. mesenteroides subsp. cremoris DSM 20346T1.908
TRRT39La. curvatus DSM 204992.234V
La. curvatus DSM 20019T2.118
TRRT40La. rhamnosus CIP A157T2.361VI
TRRT41La. rhamnosus CIP A157T2.354VI
TRRT42Le. mesenteroides subsp. mesenteroides DSM 20343T2.308IB
Le. mesenteroides subsp. dextranicum DSM 201872.004
Le. mesenteroides subsp. cremoris DSM 20346T1.982
TRRT43La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 200062.362VIIB
La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 5622T2.234
La. paracasei subsp. tolerans DSM 20258T2.182
TRRT44La. rhamnosus CIP A157T2.405VI
TRRT46La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 200062.459VIIB
La. paracasei subsp. tolerans DSM 20258T2.221
La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 5622T2.000
TRRT47Le. mesenteroides subsp. mesenteroides DSM 20343T2.322IB
Le. mesenteroides subsp. dextranicum DSM 201872.041
Le. mesenteroides subsp. cremoris DSM 20346T1.864
TRRT48La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 200062.242VIIB
La. paracasei subsp. tolerans DSM 20258T1.983
La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 5622T1.658
Table 2. Results of the comparison of the type strains of subspecies from different species of LAB identified in this study obtained with different methodologies.
Table 2. Results of the comparison of the type strains of subspecies from different species of LAB identified in this study obtained with different methodologies.
StrainsClosest SpeciesScore Values MALDI-TOFpheS Gene Similarity (%)ANIb (%)dDDH (%)
La. plantarum subsp plantarum ATCC 14917T (DSM 20174T)La. plantarum subsp. argentoratensis DSM 16365T 2.42490.5%94.962.9
La. paracasei subsp paracasei DSM 5622T La. paracasei subsp. tolerans DSM 20258T1.84699.597.984.9
Le. mesenteroides subsp mesenteroides ATCC 8293T (DSM 20343T)Le. mesenteroides subsp. cremoris ATCC 19254T (DSM 20346T)2.45699.598.190.9
Le. mesenteroides subsp mesenteroides ATCC 8293T (DSM 20343T)Le. mesenteroides subsp. dextranicum DSM 20484Tnd99.298.291.9
Le. mesenteroides subsp mesenteroides ATCC 8293T (DSM 20343T)Le. mesenteroides subsp. jonggajibkimchii DRC1506Tnd99.798.490.1
Le. mesenteroides subsp. cremoris ATCC 19254T (DSM 20346T)Le. mesenteroides subsp. dextranicum DSM 20484Tnd99.798.591.5
Le. mesenteroides subsp. cremoris ATCC 19254T (DSM 20346T)Le. mesenteroides subsp. jonggajibkimchii DRC1506Tnd99.798.188.5
Le. mesenteroides subsp. dextranicum DSM 20484TLe. mesenteroides subsp. jonggajibkimchii DRC1506Tnd99.598.490.1
Lc.lactis subsp lactis ATCC 19435T (DSM 20481T)Lc. lactis subsp. cremoris NBRC 100676T (DSM 20069T)2.17492.286.732.7
Lc.lactis subsp lactis ATCC 19435T (DSM 20481T)Lc. lactis subsp. hordniae CCUG 32210Tnd99.296.779.9
Lc.lactis subsp lactis ATCC 19435T (DSM 20481T)Lc. lactis subsp. tructae DSM 21502Tnd92.586.131.7
Lc. lactis subsp. cremoris NBRC 100676T (DSM 20069T)Lc. lactis subsp. hordniae CCUG 32210Tnd91.586.031.4
Lc. lactis subsp. cremoris NBRC 100676T (DSM 20069T)Lc. lactis subsp. tructae DSM 21502Tnd98.597.583.6
Lc. lactis subsp. hordniae CCUG 32210TLc. lactis subsp. tructae DSM 21502Tnd91.885.931.6
nd: no data because the type strains of some subspecies are not included in the Biotyper 3.0 database.
Table 3. Results obtained using MALDI-TOF MS and pheS gene analyses.
Table 3. Results obtained using MALDI-TOF MS and pheS gene analyses.
MALDI-TOF MS GroupNumber of StrainsSelected Strains Closest TaxaScore ValuespheS Gene Similarity (%)
Group IA6 from “Torta del Casar”CCDET66, Le. mesenteroides subsp. mesenteroides DSM 20343T1.3–2.299.2
1 from “Torta de Trujillo” CCDET68Le. mesenteroides subsp. cremoris DSM 20346T1.6–2.099.7
Group IB *6 from “Torta de Trujillo” TRRT07, Le. mesenteroides subsp. mesenteroides DSM 20343T2.3–2.499.7
TRRT36Le. mesenteroides subsp. cremoris DSM 20346T1.8–2.299.5
Branch IIA1 from “Torta del Casar”CCDET55La. diolivorans DSM 14421T1.999.3
Group IIB9 from “Torta del Casar”CCDET04, CCDET57 La. diolivorans DSM 14421T1.9–2.299.3
Group III13 from “Torta de Trujillo” TRRT10, Lc. lactis subsp. lactis DSM 20481T1.9–2.399.5
TRRT20Lc. lactis subsp. cremoris DSM 20069T1.7–2.199.0
Group IV2 from “Torta del Casar”CCDET07La. plantarum subsp. plantarum DSM 20174T2.1–2.3100
La. plantarum subsp. argentoratensis DSM 16365T1.9–2.090.8
Group V4 from “Torta de Trujillo”TRRT34 La. curvatus DSM 20019T2.0–2.299.2
Group VI13 from “Torta de Trujillo”TRRT03, TRRT32La. rhamnosus CIP A157T2.3–2.4100
VIIA8 from “Torta del Casar”CCDET29 La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 5622T2.0–2.199.5
La. paracasei subsp. tolerans DSM 20258T2.0–2.399.5
VIIA8 from “Torta del Casar”CCDET51 La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 5622T2.0–2.1100
La. paracasei subsp. tolerans DSM 20258T2.0–2.399.7
VIIB22 from “Torta del Casar”CCDET16 La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 5622T1.8–2.3100
7 from “Torta de Trujillo”
La. paracasei subsp. tolerans DSM 20258T1.9–2.299.7
VIIB22 from “Torta del Casar”TRRT46 La. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 5622T1.8-2.399.5
7 from “Torta de Trujillo”La. paracasei subsp. tolerans DSM 20258T1.9-2.299.5
* These strains presented 100% similarity with respect to L. mesenteroides subsp. jonggajibkimchii which is not included in Biotyper 3.0.

Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

Sánchez-Juanes, F.; Teixeira-Martín, V.; González-Buitrago, J.M.; Velázquez, E.; Flores-Félix, J.D. Identification of Species and Subspecies of Lactic Acid Bacteria Present in Spanish Cheeses Type “Torta” by MALDI-TOF MS and pheS gene Analyses. Microorganisms 2020, 8, 301. https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms8020301

AMA Style

Sánchez-Juanes F, Teixeira-Martín V, González-Buitrago JM, Velázquez E, Flores-Félix JD. Identification of Species and Subspecies of Lactic Acid Bacteria Present in Spanish Cheeses Type “Torta” by MALDI-TOF MS and pheS gene Analyses. Microorganisms. 2020; 8(2):301. https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms8020301

Chicago/Turabian Style

Sánchez-Juanes, Fernando, Vanessa Teixeira-Martín, José Manuel González-Buitrago, Encarna Velázquez, and José David Flores-Félix. 2020. "Identification of Species and Subspecies of Lactic Acid Bacteria Present in Spanish Cheeses Type “Torta” by MALDI-TOF MS and pheS gene Analyses" Microorganisms 8, no. 2: 301. https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms8020301

Note that from the first issue of 2016, this journal uses article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.

Article Metrics

Back to TopTop