3.2.1. Antifungal Activity of Lactiplantibacillus plantarum Strains
The antifungal activity of twenty strains belonging to
L. plantarum was tested against 25 strains of yeast contaminants. The overlay method on artificial media represented the optimal in vitro conditions for interacting organisms, lactobacilli, and yeast. In overlay assay, the inhibitory effect against yeast varied significantly among
L. plantarum strains (
Figure 2,
Table 7) and yeast strains. The numbers of non-inhibited, partially inhibited, and fully inhibited yeast strains are presented in
Figure 2. The results show that the number of fully inhibited yeast strains was highest for
L. plantarum strains isolated from sourdough (3018 and K19-3), silage (196), and cheese-wild types (L16, L24). The strain L16 inhibited eight yeast strains which is a maximal number of total inhibitions. The strains originating from raw milk proved rather partial inhibitions against the yeast inhibited and less rate of total inhibition. Strain CCDM 384 weakly suppressed yeast growth on artificial media, reflected by the high number of low-indexed inhibitions (
Figure 2). This strain isolated from milk can partially inhibit a broad spectrum of yeast strains at a low level.
The overall inhibitory effect of
L. plantarum, including partial and total inhibition, reached 92% (K19-3) and 88% (384). Although the strains from milk inhibited yeast more potently than those from raw cheese and silages, the inhibitory effect was partial and temporary. The results from the overlay method confirmed that all strains of lactobacilli inhibited all yeast contaminants in general compared with the control variants (
Figure 3). The data presented in
Figure 3 are supported with detailed statistical parameters included in
Table A2. The complete dataset related to testing 20 strains of
L. plantarum against 25 strains of the yeast obtained from analyses of variance is supplemented as
Table S3.
The intensity of the inhibitory effect was shown to be driven by different functional traits of lactobacilli [
47,
49]. The functional properties of lactobacilli, such as pH, production of LA and AA, bacteriocin and chitinase genes, were tested as covariates. The dimensional variability and interactions among the traits were evaluated by principal component analyses (PCA) (
Figure 4). Partial inhibition (index value 2–5) is distinct from total inhibition (index value 5–6) and no inhibition (index value 1). The first two components explained 99.9% of the variance, with a cophenetic coefficient of 0.97. The first component explained 61.56% of the variability and showed that the inhibitory effect (total inhibition, partial inhibition, or no inhibition) of lactobacilli on yeast is influenced by different functional properties of
L. plantarum strains. The total inhibition of yeast was positively correlated with the spectrum of genes for bacteriocins class 2a and chitinase. Although the spectrum of genes was shown as the significant trait allied with the antifungal activity, the base of this phenomenon is unclear. The six strains of
L. plantarum (3018, K19-3, 196, L12, L16, L24) with significant antifungal activity varied in clades 4-1 and 5-1 of bacteriocins class 2a. The role and importance of individual genes for the final antimicrobial and antifungal effects are unknown. The strain L24 lacked the chitinase gene and protein. Partial inhibition was positively correlated with the production of lactic acid and acetic acid. The second component explained 38.44% of the original variability and positively correlated with the pH of the medium and the content of lactic and acetic acids. The distribution of
L. plantarum strains (
Figure 5) according to index values in the factorial space explained the indexed inhibitory effect correlated with functional traits. The six strains of
L. plantarum that inhibited the most yeast strains are cumulated at the bottom right corner of the scatter plot. The studies aimed at antifungal effect are using evaluating scales representing mostly just the occurrence of inhibition zones. The yeast species representing dairy contaminants remain a group of diverse strains that performed unlike properties such as adaptability, tolerance, and sensitivity. To evaluate mutual interactions with lactobacilli strains, a detailed evaluating scale respecting both organisms is necessary.
The data shown in
Figure 6 are supported by
Table A3 including detailed statistical parameters. The complete dataset of analysis of variance based on the average of yeast colonies on media with RSM is supplemented as
Table S4. The significance of factors influencing the variability within strains of
L. plantarum and groups of origin is summarised in
Table 8. The strains from sourdoughs (3018, K19-3) and cheese-wild types (L12, L24, L32) suppressed the yeast growth on RSM enriched medium significantly compared with control and others. The spectrum of effective strains from sourdoughs on RSM medium is the same compared to overlay assay on artificial media. The effective strains belonging to cheese-wild types (L12, L24, L32) differed from those effective on synthetic media. Notably, the strain L32 inhibited yeast growth significantly under RSM conditions and showed a weak antifungal effect on artificial media. The strains originating from silages suppressed the yeast growth weakly in RSM.
The PCA analyses were used to relate the yeast growth with characteristics of
L. plantarum strains in RSM matrix (
Figure 7). Inhibitory zones were observed in only a few combinations of lactobacilli and yeast strains. The proteolytic activity of yeast strain can also induce the clearing zone; thus, the comparison with the control variant is necessary. The first two components represented 99.9% variability. The first component explained 61.63% of the variability. The growth of yeast colonies was negatively correlated with the production of organic acids and bioactive proteins, and peptides. The second component demonstrated 38.37% of the variability and was positively correlated with the pH of RSM. The strains of
L. plantarum in the scatter plot of PCA (
Figure 8) are clustered according to their inhibitory effect against the yeast. The strains in the bottom left corner (L12, L32, L24, K19-3, 3018) represent the most effective strains. They are positively correlated with bacteriocins and organic acids, whereas the strains in the upper left corner are correlated with pH value and the occurrence of the zone. The antifungal effect of strains from sourdoughs, 3018 and K19-3, was the most effective on artificial and RSM-based medium. Besides the bacteriocins and chitinase profile, strain 3018 produced the lactic acid in MRS and RSM at the highest stable amount to compare the rest of the strains. Thus, concerning medical research on
C. albicans [
10], the intensive production of lactic acid can also support chitinase’s role in antifungal action.
The sources of isolates/strains and strain-associated traits such as bile resistance, adaptability, and the production of extracellular proteins play essential roles in phenotypic characteristics [
49]. The strains isolated from sourdoughs had the most substantial suppressive effect against yeast. In our study, the strains of
L. plantarum originating from sourdoughs inhibited up to 90% of the 25 yeast strains. Most published studies on
L. plantarum strains producing bioactive compounds and exhibiting antifungal activity originated from sourdoughs and related bakery material [
3,
4,
31]. In addition, wild strains of
L. plantarum isolated from raw ewe cheeses inhibited yeast growth on both media tested. The functional properties of lactobacilli isolated from raw milk and artisanal cheeses have been characterised in recent studies [
7,
50]. Strains 191 and 196 from silages exerted effective antifungal activity against yeast in an overlay test on artificial media. The
L. plantarum strains from silages reduced the yeast growth in RSM medium to a significantly lesser extent than those from raw cheeses and sourdoughs. The properties of lactobacilli isolated from silage were successfully tested to improve animal feed quality [
51]. The strains obtained from milk showed different profiles of bioactive proteins and the weakest antifungal effect among the groups of origin. The combination of the characteristics of
L. plantarum and the sensitivity of yeast strains generally influenced the results. Potential antifungal compounds (peptides and organic acids) produced by strains of
L. paracasei and
L. rhamnosus [
42],
L. rhamnosus, and
L. jensenii [
13,
52] were identified in dairy matrices in recent studies [
4]. The spectrum of bioactive peptides produced under the RSM condition might differ from that in optimised growing media. The inhibition of yeast growth can be limited by time; i.e., lactobacilli and their products may only postpone development, and/or they can influence the morphological features of yeast, such as the density and size of the yeast colonies. In a recent study, the genomic comparison based on clusters of orthologous groups did not show intraspecific diversity of plant-associated strains belonging to
L. plantarum, but the variability was significantly supported by phenotypic studies [
53]. The inhibitory activity against
Saccharomyces cerevisiae confirmed significant variability within strains [
53] from fermented fruits and grains.
3.2.2. The Sensitivity of Yeast Strains
As the
L. plantarum strains showed variability in their antifungal effects, yeast contaminants showed variable sensitivity to
L. plantarum strains and their products. Five genera of yeast
(Candida spp.,
Trichosporon spp.,
Debaryomyces spp.,
Kluyveromyces spp., and
Geotrichum sp.) including the unequal number of strains were tested. The sensitivity of the yeast contaminants during the test on artificial media (
Figure 9) was significantly different among yeast strains (
Table A4). Significant variability in yeast growth based on index scale value was noted within five yeast genera (
Table S1).
Trichosporon species shown to be the most sensitive to
L. plantarum species. High index values were also obtained for
Candida apicola,
C. atlantica,
Debaryomyces subglobosus, and
D. hansenii strain 47. On the contrary,
C. krusei,
C. inconspicua,
Kluyveromyces marxianus strains 270 and 258, and
Galactomyces candidum strain 1061 demonstrated the maximum tolerance to
L. plantarum strains and their products in the overlay method on artificial media.
The influences of the functional properties of lactobacilli on yeast genera were tested as covariate factors. Most of the tested yeast strains belonging to
Candida spp.,
Galactomyces spp, and
Debaryomyces spp. proved tolerant to the lactic and acetic acid content produced by lactobacilli. The bacteriocin profiles of lactobacilli significantly influenced sensitivity of almost all yeast strains except for
Kluyveromyces. The presence of chitinase genes was found to be a significant trait only for the suppression of
Trichosporon spp. and
Debaryomyces spp. on RSM media. The significant variability among yeast indicates that the sensitivity of yeast to
L. plantarum is an interspecific and intraspecific property, depending on origin of isolates and environmental factors. The overlay method based on artificial media was optimised for the growth of lactobacilli and yeast in vitro. Thus, the results are far different from those obtained in the dairy matrices. The development of yeast contaminants on RSM with lactobacilli was suppressed by up to 60% compared with controls (
Figure 10). Significant variability in the average sizes of yeast colonies was noted within five yeast genera (
Table S2). The functional properties of lactobacilli were tested as covariate factors. For yeast growth on media with RSM, the amount of lactic and acetic acids produced by lactobacilli were determined to be non-significant factors. The variability in the size of colonies was significant in the tested genera of yeast except for
Kluyveromyces. The detailed information related to interactions among 20
L. plantarum strains and 25 yeast strains in overlay method are summarized in
Supplementary Table S3. Most studies on antifungal effects have targeted filamentous fungi. The antifungal activity of lactic acid bacteria against a broad spectrum of potential yeast contaminants was tested in dairy-mimicking models in a previous study [
19]. Even though the yeast and filamentous fungi belong to ascomycetous and basidiomycetous fungi there are important differences in their lifestyle. The spore germination and hyphal growth, including synthesis of the fungal cell wall, is the most sensitive stage to environmental changes. In the case of yeast, the cell wall is completed during the budding process. Thus, this step can cause difference in sensitivity of the yeast and filamentous fungi. The high sensitivity of
Candida albicans to products of lactobacilli during the filamentous stage is declared in a previous study [
44]. The interactions between yeast and
L. plantarum are conditioned by intraspecific and interspecific characteristics of both inter-acting organisms, i.e., lactobacilli and yeast [
13,
31]. Yeast species such as
C. apicola,
C. atlantica,
T. asahii,
D. subglobosus, and
D. hansenii 615 showed high sensitivity to almost all strains of
L. plantarum tested. The sensitivity of these strains significantly influenced the results.
C. apicola and
C. atlantica were identified in brines [
54] and as part of cheese micro-flora in cheese with a long ripening period (up to 60 days) [
55,
56]. However, their effect on cheeses is not confirmed to be detrimental. The interaction of these two species with LAB has not yet been tested.
T. asahii was identified in indigenous cheeses, brines, and whey [
1]. In our study,
T. asahii showed significant sensitivity to strains of
L. plantarum. A variety of
Lactobacillus spp. in a dairy matrix was tested by [
52]. The colony size of
T. domesticum and
T. coremiiforme strains growing on reconstituted milk with
L. plantarum differed from that of the control by 65%, whereas
T. asahii differed by 93%.
The in vitro studies confirmed that
C. krusei,
C. inconspicua,
C. zeylanoides, and strains of
K. marxianus and
G. candidum were the most tolerant to
L. plantarum strains on artificial media (
Table A4,
Supplementary Table S3). In contrast, the inhibitory effect was apparent on RSM media, although the colony size was only about 30% less than the control. These findings reveal that a milk matrix supports the inhibitory effect of
L. plantarum, and the inhibitory effect observed for each combination can differ from tests on artificial media [
1]. The strains representing obligate pathogens,
C. krusei,
C. parapsilosis, and
C. inconspicua, were included in experiments because they are frequently identified in dairy matrices. In general, these three strains were observed to be the most tolerant species to
L. plantarum. The different by-products of
L. rhamnosus,
L. gasseri,
L. acidophillus,
L. paracasei,
L. crispatus, and
L. jensenii were tested to explore the biofilm adhesion and inhibition of non-albicans species in models simulating the environment of the human body [
57]. Similarly,
T. asahii is an obligate pathogen with importance in human and veterinary medicine [
58]. However,
T. asahii and other
Trichosporon spp. are frequent in raw milk products, cheeses, and brines [
1].
T. asahii was the most sensitive strain that did not grow on reconstituted milk with
L. plantarum strains. In addition, the in vitro dual tests showed that
T. asahii was highly sensitive to
L. plantarum. The strain-specific sensitivity also occurred in
Debaryomyces and
Kluyveromyces spp., which represent common yeast species in the dairy environment and products.
Geotrichum/
Galactomyces spp. were strongly suppressed by
L. plantarum strains on RSM media when compared with artificial media