Characterization of Pectinatus and Megasphaera strains by automated ribotyping

A total of 32 Pectinatus and Megasphaera strains, isolated from spoiled beer or brewery environments and identified by conventional methods, were analysed by the automated RiboPrinter(R) System. One strain from each ribotype was further subjected to partial 16S rDNA sequencing to confirm the ribotyping results. The restriction enzyme EcoRI was used in ribotyping of Pectinatus strains. Eight strains, identified by conventional tests as P. cerevisiiphilus, generated five different ribotypes. The strains of three types were considered to be members of P. cerevisiiphilus, but the strains of two types were most probably members of a new species within the genus Pectinatus. The 24 strains identified by conventional tests as P. frisingenis generated nine different ribotypes. The similarity between the ribotypes was rather low, but all these strains obviously belonged to the same species. Thirteen Megasphaere cerevisiae strains were analyased with three restriction enzymes EcoRI, PstI and PvuII and four, six and three different ribotypes, respectively, were generated resulting in seven different combinations. the best discrimination among these strains was obtained with PstI. According to these results 12 of 13 brewery strains were considered to be M. cerevisiae, but one strain most probably represented a new species within the genus Megasphaera. During the work, 14 Riboprint(R) patterns of Pectinatus, five of Megasphaera, two of Selenomonas and two of Zymophilus were created with EcoRI. In addition seven patterns of Megasphaera were created with PstI and four with PvuII. All these identification patterns (genetic fingerprints) were saved at the database of VTT for future use.