Fig 1.
Variation of pH (A), acid content (B) and viable lactic acid bacteria (C) along fermentation time for the four distinct fermentations.
Fig 2.
Dendrogram built using M13 and OPC-15 PCR-fingerprinting profiles of the 95 isolates from the four sauerkraut fermentations.
The vertical line represents the reproducibility level, which was used as a cut-off value for the definition of genomically distinct LAB. Isolates highlighted with a dot (●) were chosen as representatives for further studies.
Fig 3.
Incidence of Leuconostoc and Lactobacillus isolates among representatives from the four sauerkraut fermentations.
Fisher’s exact test was used to determine statistically significant differences between fermentations. *—P<0.001.
Fig 4.
Dendrograms built using the PCR-fingerprinting profiles of Lactobacillus (A) or Leuconostoc (B) isolates.
The vertical line represents the reproducibility level, which was used as a cut-off value for the definition of genomically similar groups. Groups containing more than one isolate are represented. Isolates indicated with an arrow were considered genomically similar to others within the same fermentation/time-point, and were removed from subsequent characterization.
Table 1.
Presence of clusters of Leuconostoc (Le) and Lactobacillus (La) isolates over the course of time, on the four distinct fermentations.
Fig 5.
Percentage of isolates resistant to the studied antimicrobial compounds.
AMP- Ampicillin; C- Chloramphenicol; DA- Clindamycin; E- Erythromycin; CN- Gentamicin; K- Kanamycin; S- Streptomycin; TE- Tetracycline. Fisher’s exact test was used to determine statistically significant differences between genera. *—P<0.05; **—P<0.005; ***-P<0.0005.
Fig 6.
Summary of results for the 95 isolates with a LAB-like phenotype.
Dendrogram built based on PCR-fingerprinting profiles, with the red vertical line representing the reproducibility level. Information regarding hemolytic activity, antimicrobial resistance, low pH (3.5) and bile resistance, genus identification, group attributed after PCR-fingerprinting analysis and source of the isolate is also shown. Isolates written in red were chosen as representatives after PCR-fingerprinting, and isolates written in blue were also chosen, but excluded after further analysis. Isolates marked with a box were selected for subsequent analysis based on the information presented in the figure. Black squares represent the presence of AMP—Ampicillin; C—Chloramphenicol; DA—Clindamycin; E—Erythromycin; CN—Gentamicin; K—Kanamycin; S—Streptomycin; or TE—Tetracycline resistance.