Acetic acid bacteria from biofilm of strawberry vinegar visualized by microscopy and detected by complementing culture-dependent and culture-independent techniques

Acetic acid bacteria (AAB) usually develop biofilm on the air-liquid interface of the vinegar elaborated by traditional method. This is the first study in which the AAB microbiota present in a biofilm of vinegar obtained by traditional method was detected by pyrosequencing. Direct genomic DNA extraction from biofilm was set up to obtain suitable quality of DNA to apply in culture-independent molecular techniques. The set of primers and TaqMan - MGB probe designed in this study to enumerate the total AAB population by Real Time - PCR detected between 8 × 105 and 1.2 × 106 cells/g in the biofilm. Pyrosequencing approach reached up to 10 AAB genera identification. The combination of culture-dependent and culture-independent molecular techniques provided a broader view of AAB microbiota from the strawberry biofilm, which was dominated by Ameyamaea, Gluconacetobacter, and Komagataeibacter genera. Culture-dependent techniques allowed isolating only one genotype, which was assigned into the Ameyamaea genus and which required more analysis for a correct species identification. Furthermore, biofilm visualization by laser confocal microscope and scanning electronic microscope showed different dispositions and cell morphologies in the strawberry vinegar biofilm compared with a grape vinegar biofilm.