Adaptive evolution and acid tolerance of the wine bacterium Oenococcus oeni

Identifier:  TDX:4404

Handle: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11797/TDX4404

Authors:  Eicher, Camille

Abstract:
Oenococcus oeni is the wine bacterium responsible for malolactic fermentation in wine. This second fermentation step reduces total acidity, bringing roundness, softness and microbiological stability to the wine. Nevertheless, wine represents a harsh environment for the development of microorganisms, combining several stress factors that can seriously compromise malolactic fermentation. Particular attention was paid to acid stress, with the aim of identifying unknown mechanisms involved in the response of O. oeni to this stress. Therefore, two experimental evolutions were conducted on two different strains of this bacterium to adapt cells to low pH in order to improve their acid tolerance. It resulted in the appearance of mutations that were identified by whole genome sequencing of the evolved populations obtained. The first experiment conducted on ATCC BAA-1163 revealed the fixation of mutations in the citrate locus of all evolved populations. Therefore, citrate metabolism in O. oeni was extensively studied during this PhD. The results highlighted that a modulation of citrate consumption rate can improve acid tolerance of O. oeni. In addition, the mechanisms involved in the regulation of citrate locus expression in this bacterium were explored, revealing the function of the transcriptional regulator CitR and the involvement of an antisense RNA. A study of the global carbon metabolism of strains from different origins also showed a great diversity between them, which could be correlated to their ecosystems and comforted the link between citrate consumption and acid tolerance. Finally, the second adaptive evolution carried out on the commercial strain IOEB_S450 revealed the acquisition of mutations in different genes including the malate locus and opens the way to new research opportunities.