A Temporal -omic Study of Propionibacterium freudenreichii CIRM-BIA1T Adaptation Strategies in Conditions Mimicking Cheese Ripening in the Cold

• Published in: PloS one 2012-01, Vol.7 (1), p.e29083-15
• Main Authors: Dalmasso, Marion, Aubert, Julie, Briard-Bion, Valérie, Chuat, Victoria, Deutsch, Stéphanie-Marie, Even, Sergine, Falentin, Hélène, Jan, Gwénaël, Jardin, Julien, Maillard, Marie-Bernadette, Parayre, Sandrine, Piot, Michel, Tanskanen, Jarna, Thierry, Anne
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adaptation; Alanine; Bacteria; Bifidobacterium animalis; Bioinformatics; Biology; Cell culture; Cheese; Cheese flavor; Cold; Dairy products; DNA microarrays; Fermentation; Flavor compounds; Gene expression; Gene sequencing; Genes; Genomes; Gluconeogenesis; Glycogen; Lactic acid; Life Sciences; Mass spectrometry; Metabolism; Metabolites; Mimicry; Morphology; Peptides; Propionibacterium; Propionibacterium freudenreichii; Protein synthesis; Proteins; Proteomics; Pyruvic acid; Ripening; Science; Scientific imaging; Serine; Starvation; Survival
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0029083

Propionibacterium freudenreichii is used as a ripening culture in Swiss cheese manufacture. It grows when cheeses are ripened in a warm room (about 24°C). Cheeses with an acceptable eye formation level are transferred to a cold room (about 4°C), inducing a marked slowdown of propionic fermentation, but P. freudenreichii remains active in the cold. To investigate the P. freudenreichii strategies of adaptation and survival in the cold, we performed the first global gene expression profile for this species. The time-course transcriptomic response of P. freudenreichii CIRM-BIA1T strain was analyzed at five times of incubation, during growth at 30°C then for 9 days at 4°C, under conditions preventing nutrient starvation. Gene expression was also confirmed by RT-qPCR for 28 genes. In addition, proteomic experiments were carried out and the main metabolites were quantified. Microarray analysis revealed that 565 genes (25% of the protein-coding sequences of P. freudenreichii genome) were differentially expressed during transition from 30°C to 4°C (P1). At 4°C, a general slowing down was observed for genes implicated in the cell machinery. On the contrary, P. freudenreichii CIRM-BIA1T strain over-expressed genes involved in lactate, alanine and serine conversion to pyruvate, in gluconeogenesis, and in glycogen synthesis. Interestingly, the expression of different genes involved in the formation of important cheese flavor compounds, remained unchanged at 4°C. This could explain the contribution of P. freudenreichii to cheese ripening even in the cold. In conclusion, P. freudenreichii remains metabolically active at 4°C and induces pathways to maintain its long-term survival.