Abstract
Wine is a globally produced, marketed and consumed alcoholic beverage, which is valued for its aromatic and qualitative complexity and variation. These properties are partially attributable to the bacterial involvement in the fermentation process. However, the organizational principles and dynamic changes of the bacterial wine microbiota remain poorly understood, especially in the context of red and white wine variations and environmental stress factors. Here, we determined relative and absolute bacterial microbiota compositions from six distinct cultivars during the first week of fermentation by quantitative and qualitative 16S rRNA gene amplification and amplicon sequencing. All wines harboured complex and variable bacterial communities, with Tatumella as the most abundant genus across all batches, but red wines were characterized by higher bacterial diversity and increased relative and absolute abundance of lactic and acetic acid bacteria (LAB/AAB) and bacterial taxa of predicted environmental origin. Microbial diversity was positively correlated with plant-derived DNA concentrations in the wine and Botrytis cinerea infection before harvest. Our findings suggest that exogenous factors, such as procedural differences between red and white wine production and environmental stress on grape integrity, can increase bacterial diversity and specific bacterial taxa in wine, with potential consequences for wine quality and aroma.
Highlights
Wine is a popular alcoholic beverage, which is cherished for its versatile aroma and complexity worldwide
Of these, ~ 58% were classified as plant-derived reads, i.e. chloroplast and mitochondrial sequences, which showed grape vine (Vitis vinifera) and rootstock (Vitis riparia) as the closest matches in public databases (Supplementary Table S2)
We show that red wine harbours a more diverse bacterial microbiota with a higher density of bacterial 16S rRNA genes per millilitre than white wine
Summary
Wine is a popular alcoholic beverage, which is cherished for its versatile aroma and complexity worldwide. Aroma and flavour are substantially affected by microbial fermentation of the grape must, the taxonomic composition and functional repertoire of the wine microbiota, as well as its dependence on environmental influences, are of great interest[9]. In order to improve our understanding of the composition, organization and temporal dynamics of the red and white wine bacterial microbiota, we determined relative and absolute microbiota compositions from six distinct cultivars during the first week of fermentation by 16S rRNA gene amplification and amplicon sequencing. Increases or decreases in the relative abundance of specific bacterial taxa during the fermentation were associated with changes in total bacterial concentrations and the observed differences between time points, wine types and cultivars were most strongly correlated with microbial diversity. Our findings point to exogenous factors contributing to bacterial microbiota diversity in wine with both potentially desirable and undesirable consequences for wine quality and aroma
Published Version (Free)
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have