Lactic acid bacteria communities in must, alcoholic and malolactic Tempranillo wine fermentations, by culture-dependent and culture-independent methods

The lactic acid bacteria (LAB) communities from must and through alcoholic (AF) and malolactic fermentations (MLF) of Tempranillo red wines were studied in ten wineries from the Designation of Origin Rioja during three consecutive vintages. A statistical study with data from both methods, PCR-DGGE and plating, was performed. Results showed that the LAB community in the D.O. Rioja was highly determined by the type of fermentation and also by the different stages within the winemaking, while other factors such as year, winery, or sampling subzones had not significant effect on the LAB species distribution. Three microbial families, seven genera, and 25 species were described in this research, and Lactobacillus was the most commonly detected genus before MLF. Curiously, genera and species not frequently detected in wines as Weissella, Fructobacillus, and Oenococcus kitaharae were identified during AF, and no-Oenococcus oeni species were described in some MLF by both methods. For the first time, two new O. oeni allelic groups were determined by 16S rDNA/DGGE being randomly adapted to the wine environment. Further studies targeted to understand the implication of the novel species, and O. oeni allelic groups in Rioja wine fermentations could be really interesting.