Microbiota of Karakačanski skakutanac, an artisanal fresh sheep cheese studied by culture-independent PCR-ARDRA and PCR-DGGE

Karakačanski skakutanac is an artisanal fresh sheep cheese produced on a small scale in a limited area of eastern Croatia. It is manufactured from unrefrigerated raw sheep milk immediately after milking, without the addition of starter culture, and coagulated with industrial rennet. To date, no microbiological or molecular characterization of the biodiversity of the microbiota has been performed. The objective of this study was to obtain an initial insight into the biodiversity of the microbial community associated with this cheese during the production season and shelf life period. Eleven cheeses were obtained from a dairy farm at 14-day intervals during the lactation period of east Friesian sheep in 2007. Bacterial DNA was isolated directly from cheese on the first, second and third day of the cheese shelf life, resulting in a total of 33 DNA samples. Extracted DNA was used as a template for PCR-ARDRA and PCR-DGGE analysis. The use of dual culture-independent approaches revealed similar results and indicated predominance of Lactococcus lactis.