Use of propidium monoazide for the enumeration of viable Oenococcus oeni in must and wine by quantitative PCR

► Development of specific primers which target the mleA gene from Oenococcus oeni. ► PMA-qPCR method rapidly enumerates viable cells of O. oeni in must and wine. ► Lowest detection limit reached until now by both PMA-qPCR and RT-qPCR methods. ► PMA-qPCR method avoids time consuming and expensive step of RNA extraction. ► PMA-qPCR and RT-qPCR directly enumerate O. oeni in must and wine.