Application of molecular methods to demonstrate species and strain evolution of acetic acid bacteria population during wine production

The growth of acetic acid bacteria on grapes or throughout the winemaking process influences the quality of wine, mainly because it increases the volatile acidity. The objective of this study was to analyse how the acetic acid bacteria population evolves in the changing environment of the grape surface and during wine fermentation. We have analysed the influence of yeast inoculation and SO2 addition on acetic acid bacteria populations. These bacteria were analysed at both the species and the strain level by molecular methods such as Restriction Fragment Length Polimorfism (RFLP) of amplified 16S rDNA, and amplification by polymerase chain reaction of Enterobacterial Repetitive Intergenic Consensus (ERIC-PCR) and Repetitive Extragenic Palindromic (REP-PCR). Our results show that the increases in population size are normally accompanied by a proliferation of Acetobacter aceti, which is the main species during fermentation. The diversity of strains is considerable in natural environments such as the grape surface. Changes in the environment during alcoholic fermentation substantially reduce the survival and the diversity of acetic acid bacteria. Few strains are able to survive these conditions and they seem to originate from both the grapes and the winery. To the best of our knowledge this is the first time that acetic acid bacteria are analysed at the strain level in grape surfaces and during winemaking.