Yogurt bacteria viruses evade cleaning chemicals for over a decade
Marangon AM, Pujato SA, Rousseau GM, Tremblay DM, Lugli GA
Food Science
This one's outside the plant world: it's about bacteria-eating viruses in yogurt factories, not gardens or crops, so it won't affect your soil, plants, or foraging.
This study has nothing to do with plants. It looks at viruses called phages that infect the bacteria used to ferment milk into yogurt, and why some of those viruses stick around in factories for years despite cleaning efforts. Researchers found certain viral strains tolerate cold storage and bleach better than others, and carry genes that help them dodge the bacteria's immune defenses.
Key Findings
25 phages isolated over 15 years fell into two groups, Moineauvirus (16) and Brussowvirus (9), with ten distinct restriction profiles.
Brussowvirus phages survived storage at 25°C and 8°C for eight months and tolerated up to 500 ppm sodium hypochlorite, while all phages were killed by 2.0% Lysoform.
Several phages carried anti-CRISPR genes (including AcrIIA3, AcrIIA5, AcrIIA6, AcrIIA21, AcrIIA25) that help them evade the bacteria's main defense system, though infectivity didn't always match Acr presence.
chevron_right Technical Summary
Scientists tracked 25 viruses that attack the bacteria used to make yogurt over 15 years at one factory, finding some strains survive cleaning chemicals and cold storage far better than others, which helps explain recurring production problems in dairy plants.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Temporal dynamics of the S. thermophilus phage population in a yogurt production facility.
Starter cultures are essential for milk fermentation, but phage infections can disrupt production, compromising product quality and causing economic losses. In this study, we investigated the dynam...
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