Intraspecific diversity of Oenococcus oeni isolated during red wine-makingin Japan

Using molecular and chemotaxonomic techniques, we studied the intraspecific diversity of Oenococcus oeni, a lactic acid bacterium isolated during red wine-making in Japan. The results confirmed high values of DNA-DNA relatedn ess and strong similarity among 16S rDNA sequences of the isolates with the O. oeni-type strain. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) by NotI ident ified four patterns among the strains. Three different patterns of lactate dehydrogenase mobility were seen and there was a strong correlation between PFGE pattern and mobility. The present results suggest that the different strains of 0. oeni comprise one species, and that variations in the genomic profiles of the different strains of O. oeni, including Japanese isolates are well correlated. (C) 2001 Federation of European Microbiological Societ ies. Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.