PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Marie Lisandra Zepeda-Mendoza AU - Nathalia Kruse Edwards AU - Mikkel Gulmann Madsen AU - Martin Abel-Kistrup AU - Lara Puetz AU - Thomas Sicheritz-Ponten AU - Jan H. Swiegers TI - Influence of <em>Oenococcus oeni</em> and <em>Brettanomyces bruxellensis</em> on Wine Microbial Taxonomic and Functional Potential Profile AID - 10.5344/ajev.2018.17092 DP - 2018 May 07 TA - American Journal of Enology and Viticulture PG - ajev.2018.17092 4099 - http://www.ajevonline.org/content/early/2018/05/02/ajev.2018.17092.short 4100 - http://www.ajevonline.org/content/early/2018/05/02/ajev.2018.17092.full AB - The interactions between lactic acid bacteria (LAB), yeast and other wine microbiota have an impact on the wine quality. Some strains of the LAB Oenococcus oeni possess a cinnamoyl esterase activity that releases hydroxycinnamic acids (HCAs) that can subsequently be processed by some strains of the spoilage yeast Brettanomyces bruxellensis and lead to off-flavor compounds. Using metagenomic analyses, this study investigated the influence of O. oeni and B. bruxellensis on the taxonomic and functional potential profiles of the microbial community of Cabernet Sauvignon wine, particularly regarding flavor formation. Metagenomic datasets were generated from inoculations of three strains of B. bruxellensis, in combination with two O. oeni strains, with and without cinnamoyl esterase activity. It was found that the effect on the microbial profiles depends on the O. oeni and B. bruxellensis strains being combined and on the abundance that the inoculants reach in the final wine, which depends on unidentified conditions (e.g. derived from microbial interactions). It was confirmed that the potential of B. bruxellensis to produce off-flavor compounds from HCAs is strain dependent. Interestingly, the samples without microbial inoculants also had this potential, suggesting that microbiota from the native grape could also influence the levels of HCAs. The metagenomic analyses complemented with experimental validation also found that the presence of B. bruxellensis does not interfere with the microbial functional potential to transform L-malic acid into L-lactic acid, which typically leads to a less acidic flavor. We show that metagenomic approaches can help uncover the complex wine microbial community traits, such as flavor, impacted by the simultaneous presence of O. oeni and B. bruxellensis.