Previous Article | Next Article ![]()
Applied and Environmental Microbiology, December 2003, p. 7430-7434, Vol. 69, No. 12
0099-2240/03/$08.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/AEM.69.12.7430-7434.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Department of Viticulture and Enology, University of California, Davis, California 95616
Received 23 June 2003/ Accepted 12 September 2003
|
|
|---|
|
|
|---|
Traditional methods to identify spoilage yeasts in wine rely on culturing (12). In the case of Dekkera or Brettanomyces species, culturing usually involves selective media containing cycloheximide and typically takes 1 to 2 weeks to perform (3). Advances in molecular typing have dramatically enhanced the ability to differentiate Dekkera colonies once they are isolated from wine. Mitrakul et al. (17) used a randomly amplified polymorphic DNA-PCR assay to discriminate strains of D. bruxellensis in three different Cabernet Sauvignon vintages. Egli and Henick-Kling (11) used a PCR assay based on the rRNA internal transcribed spacer region to differentiate six wine isolates. Stender et al. (22) developed a peptide nucleic acid probe to the D. bruxellensis 26S rRNA gene and examined isolates from three wines by fluorescence in situ hybridization. While these methods employ novel approaches for the differentiation of strains, they all relied on microbial enrichment. From the winemaker's perspective, this delay is problematic since decisions on wine processing (antimicrobial additions, filtering, etc.) are similarly delayed.
Few researchers have employed methods without any enrichment steps to directly identify yeasts from wine. Cocolin et al. (9) directly differentiated yeasts in wine by PCR and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis. Ibeas et al. (14) developed a two-step PCR which could detect as few as 10 intact Dekkera cells in contaminated sherry. There are two principal advantages of the direct characterization of wine microbial DNA as opposed to yeast enrichment and plating. The first is the fact that many microbial populations might not respond to enrichment due to injury, lack of appropriate nutrients, or persistence in a viable but nonculturable state. For example, approaches relying on PCR and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis have identified nonculturable yeast populations in commercial wine fermentations (8, 16). The second advantage is that direct analyses take less time than enrichment methods. This advantage may, in turn, allow winemakers to use microbial detection data in a prophylactic fashion, avoiding spoilage problems before they arise. Moreover, the logistics of DNA analysis allow larger numbers of samples to be processed than would be operable for plating studies.
Real-time or quantitative PCR (QPCR) assays have been developed for the detection and enumeration of a number of fungi and food-borne pathogens (2, 4, 13, 15, 18). QPCR offers significant advantages over other molecular methods in terms of the speed by which assays are performed and the ability to quantify the target microbial population. In this study we developed a QPCR method for the detection and quantification of D. bruxellensis in wine. This method will enable a more comprehensive determination of D. bruxellensis in wine, thereby facilitating a better understanding of its origin in wineries as well as aiding studies of the interactions between D. bruxellensis and the normal wine flora. Finally, this method should also allow winemakers to more quickly assess the spoilage potential of D. bruxellensis in various juices and wines during vinification.
|
|
|---|
|
View this table: [in a new window] |
TABLE 1. Specificity
of the DBRUXF-DBRUXR primer pair
|
Specificity of
PCR assays.
DNA samples
from all yeasts were isolated as described previously
(16). PCRs were performed
at a final volume of 50 µl. All PCR reagents were obtained from
Applied Biosystems, Foster City, Calif. Each reaction mixture contained
5 µl of AmpliTaq Gold buffer; 2.0 mM MgCl2; 0.2 mM
(each) dATP, dCTP, dGTP, and dTTP; 0.2 mM primers; 1.25 U of AmpliTaq
Gold; and 2 µl (approximately 20 ng) of extracted DNA. The
reactions were run for 40 cycles on a GeneAmp 2700 thermal cycler
(Applied Biosystems), with denaturation at 95°C for
60 s, annealing at 69°C for 45 s, and
extension at 72°C for 7 s. An initial 5-min
denaturing step at 95°C and a final 7-min extension step at
72°C were used. The products were analyzed by agarose gel
electrophoresis on a 3% gel and stained with 0.5 mg of ethidium
bromide per ml (1). The
gels were visualized under UV transillumination with a Multimage light
cabinet (Alpha Innotech Corporation, San Leandro,
Calif.).
QPCR.
QPCR were performed on an Applied
Biosystems Prism 7700 sequence detection system. SybrGreen master mix
was used according to the manufacturer's instructions (Applied
Biosystems). Optimized reactions were performed in 0.5-ml MicroAmp
optical tubes or plates, and each 50-µl reaction mixture
contained the following: 1x SybrGreen master mix, 900 nM
DBRUXF, 300 nM DBRUXR, and 2 µl of purified DNA. Each reaction
was performed in triplicate. The reactions were run for 40 cycles, with
denaturation at 95°C for 60 s, annealing at
69°C for 45 s, and extension at 72°C for
7 s. An initial 5-min denaturing step at 95°C was
used. The cycle threshold (CT), or the PCR cycle where
fluorescence first occurred, was determined automatically by using
sequence detector software (version 1.7; Applied
Biosystems).
Artificial contamination of
wine.
D.
bruxellensis UCD2050 (5.8 x 107 CFU per ml) was
serially diluted in sterile peptone water, plated on YM
agar, and incubated for 1 to 2 weeks at 25°C to obtain the
number of CFU per milliliter. For QPCR analysis, this same original
culture was serially diluted in filter-sterilized wine (Cabernet
Sauvignon) and wine containing approximately 107 S.
cerevisiae cells. DNA was isolated from 700 µl of sample
by using a MasterPure yeast DNA purification kit (Epicentre
Technologies, Madison, Wis.) and then diluted 10-fold in sterile water.
This DNA was then used in the QPCR reactions described above. Standard
curves for quantification of unknown samples and determination of
amplification efficiency were generated by plotting the CT
values of QPCR performed on the DNA from these dilution series against
the log input cells (ABI PRISM 7700 sequence detection system, user
bulletin 2).
Analysis of true wine
samples.
Three Cabernet
Sauvignon samples and a Merlot sample known to be contaminated with
Dekkera were provided by a local winery. Each sample was
serially diluted in sterile peptone water. These dilutions were plated
in triplicate on WL nutrient agar (Becton Dickinson) containing 10 mg
of cycloheximide (Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, Mo.) per liter and
incubated at 25°C for 14 days. DNA was isolated from 700
µl of the sample and then diluted 10-fold. This DNA was then
quantified by QPCR as described above. Each sample was analyzed in
triplicate.
|
|
|---|
![]() View larger version (48K): [in a new window] |
FIG. 1. Alignment
of partial 26S rDNA sequences with the DBRUXF and DBRUXR primers. The
shaded sequences are regions of nonidentity to the D.
bruxellensis 26S rDNA sequence. Note that the reverse complement
of DBRUXR is presented in order for homology to be viewed easily.
GenBank accession numbers: for D. bruxellensis,
U45738; for
D. anomala,
U84244; for
B. naardenensis,
U76200; for
Brettanomyces custersianus,
U76199; for
S. cerevisiae,
U44806; and
for B. nanus,
U76197.
|
![]() View larger version (8K): [in a new window] |
FIG. 2. Determination
of QPCR amplification efficiency and detection limits of D.
bruxellensis diluted in sterile peptone water ( ),
wine ( ), and wine plus approximately 107 cells of
S. cerevisiae ( ). The solid lines represent
the regression of log cell numbers in each matrix.
R2 values are as follows: peptone water, 0.993;
wine, 0.992; wine plus S. cerevisiae, 0.999.
CT values are the average of three
replicates.
|
![]() View larger version (7K): [in a new window] |
FIG. 3. Sensitivity
and accuracy of QPCR assay compared to plating for the determination of
cell numbers of D. bruxellensis in wine. D.
bruxellensis UCD 2050 was serially diluted and plated on YM
medium. The same dilution was also performed in Cabernet Sauvignon wine
to provide samples with known levels of contamination. DNA was isolated
from these samples and cell numbers were determined by QPCR. Three
trials were preformed on three separate cultures (trial one, ;
trial two, ; and trial three, ). The numbers of
estimated cells detected by QPCR were compared to those determined by
plating and after regression gave R2 values of
0.999, 0.986, and 0.966,
respectively.
|
|
View this table: [in a new window] |
TABLE 2. Enumeration
by plating and QPCR of D. bruxellensis in
winea
|
|
|
|---|
The detection limit for the QPCR assay, approximately 1 CFU per ml, is in line with that of other similar assays (2, 4). Perhaps most importantly, the assay is robust and functions well on DNA samples isolated from wine, a matrix known to possess various PCR inhibitors (23, 24). Moreover, the assay functions reproducibly in the presence of competing nontarget DNA templates such as S. cerevisiae, the yeast that carries out the primary alcoholic fermentation in the production of wine. In both wine and wine supplemented with S. cerevisiae, the assay exhibited an excellent correlation between the predicted number of CFU per milliliter as determined by QCPR and the number of CFU per milliliter determined by plating. Finally the QPCR assay effectively enumerated the D. bruxellensis populations present in the true spoiled wine samples, correctly estimating the size of the population determined by plating. In one case, the D. bruxellensis population estimated by plating was slightly higher than that determined by QPCR (Table 2). This result may be due to the growth of wine yeasts other than D. bruxellensis on media containing cycloheximide (19).
When testing spoiled wine samples, we noted that the QPCR results on undiluted samples exhibited some variability. However, when the samples were first diluted 10-fold, this variability disappeared, and the resulting QPCR analysis showed a good correlation with plating results. The initial dilution may help remove PCR inhibitors, such as phenolics, present in the sample (23). Such inhibitors may be present at different levels in various samples because the wines were processed differently and likely exhibit slightly different chemical compositions. Regardless, we recommend diluting samples 10-fold prior to using this QPCR method to enumerate D. bruxellensis populations from actual wines. The dilution, in turn, changes the lower detection limit for the assay to 10 CFU per ml rather than 1 CFU per ml.
The utility of this assay for the wine industry is easily demonstrated (Table 2). To date, few methods are available to rapidly enumerate D. bruxellensis populations in wine, and winemakers must make decisions at various processing steps without the requisite information on the potential for spoilage caused by D. bruxellensis. Currently, two methods are used to monitor Dekkera populations in wines: standard plating analysis with selective media or measurement of 4EP, a by-product of Dekkera growth in wine (12, 20). The first method is problematic since the plates must be incubated for at least 2 weeks, thereby delaying any corrective action by the winemaker until the result is obtained. The second method follows the spoilage-associated end product and, thus, only indirectly suggests the presence, or former presence, of Dekkera organisms. Few molecular methods have been developed to identify Dekkera populations directly from wine (9, 14). The QPCR method developed here takes about 3 hours and would allow winemakers to quickly ascertain Dekkera population levels in order to make efficient processing decisions to eliminate possible spoilage.
|
|
|---|
This article has been cited by other articles:
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology. For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»