Abstract
Turkish mold-ripened cheese varieties are traditionally produced by spontaneous fungal growth during the ripening process in cellars or caves. In this study, fourty strains of filamentous fungi were isolated from mold-ripened cheeses of different regions. Internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequencing identified the most common species as Penicillium roqueforti (52%). The two key genes, roqA/rds and mpaC, involved in the biosynthesis of roquefortine C and mycophenolic acid, respectively, were screened by PCR. The presence of fragments of these genes in all P. roqueforti isolates indicates the potential of the isolates for production of these metabolites. Four selected strains of P. roqueforti produced roquefortine C, but mycophenolic acid was detected in only two strains. Variability in the production of the metabolites might indicate the presence of polymorphisms outside of the region amplified or in other genes or their regulatory regions in the biosynthetic pathway.
Highlights
Mold-ripened cheese products are popular cheese types consumed worldwide
Mycophenolic acid is an organic acid, and its backbone is formed as the first step in the biosynthetic pathway by the action of the putative polyketide synthase encoded by mpaC (Del-Cid et al, 2016; Garcia-Estrada & Martin, 2016)
In a study conducted in Konya and its vicinity, 140 mold-ripened cheese samples were examined; 86% of the isolates were identified at the genus level as Penicillium, and the remaining 12% were identified as Aspergillus
Summary
Mold-ripened cheese products are popular cheese types consumed worldwide. They are composed of two main groups: blue-veined cheeses, such as Roquefort, Danish Blue, Cabrales, Gorgonzola, and Stilton; and surface-ripened cheeses, including but not limited to Camembert-type soft cheeses and semi-hard ones, e. g., Tomme, Cantal, Tilsit and Ossau Iraty (Fox et al, 2016; Metin, 2018). Other varieties include but are not limited to Konya Kuflu (Green) cheese, mold-ripened Hatay Surk, Kup and Tomas (Cokelek, Serto, Dorak) cheeses (Çakmakçı, 2011; TPE, 2019) Most of these varieties are produced by spontaneous fermentation in caves, cellars, or in store-houses without using a mold starter. Penicillium roqueforti, the principal fungal species of blue cheeses, is known to produce PR toxin, roquefortine C and D, mycophenolic acid, isofumigaclavine A (roquefortine A), festuclavine, agroclavine, eremofortines, andrastins and citreo isocoumarin (Nielsen et al, 2006; O’Brien et al, 2006; Visagie et al, 2014; Fontaine et al, 2015; Del-Cid et al, 2016; Garcia-Estrada & Martin, 2016; Gillot et al, 2017a). We screened P. roqueforti isolates for the presence of the roqA/rds and mpaC genes, the
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