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Repair common Windows errors and clear accumulated junk for a smoother, more stable PC - no reinstall needed.Free scan · no reinstallCheddar flavour is built by a community, not by isolated microbes working independently. In a year-long cheddar experiment, the presence or absence of particular starter-culture members changed which bacteria grew and which flavour-related compounds accumulated. Streptococcus thermophilus supported the growth of several Lactococcus strains, while Lactococcus cremoris restrained production of the buttery compounds diacetyl and acetoin.
Those findings come from one defined commercial starter culture and controlled milk fermentations, so they do not predict every cheddar. They do show why strain identity and microbial cooperation can matter as much as the species names printed on a culture specification.
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What the cheddar study actually tested
Chrats Melkonian and colleagues published Microbial interactions shape cheese flavour formation in Nature Communications on 21 December 2023 (volume 14, article 8348). The paper is available at Nature Communications.
The central question was practical: if a cheesemaking starter contains a community of related bacteria, does changing membership alter flavour chemistry? Rather than examining one organism in isolation, the authors removed selected strains or groups from a commercial starter and followed the consequences during cheesemaking and milk fermentation.
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The starter used in the cheddar experiment contained one S. thermophilus strain, two major Lactococcus lactis strains, one major Lactococcus cremoris strain, and a blend of 21 additional Lactococcus strains. These counts describe the experimental inoculum; they are not a census of all commercial cheddar cultures.
How the experiments separated community effects
A year-long cheddar-making run
The researchers made cheddar over a year while comparing the complete starter community with versions in which selected members or groups were omitted. A long production period allowed them to observe community membership alongside the changing chemistry of ripening and manufacture, rather than relying on a single early fermentation time point.
Controlled milk fermentations
They then narrowed the question in controlled milk fermentations by excluding individual major Lactococcus strains. This follow-up design helped distinguish a general effect of removing many organisms from the specific effect of losing one prominent strain.
Several kinds of molecular evidence
The analysis combined genome sequencing, genome-scale metabolic modelling, metatranscriptomics, and measurements of metabolites and flavour-related compounds. Genomic data identified who was present; transcript measurements indicated which genetic programs were active; metabolic models proposed routes by which one organism could alter another’s resources; and chemical measurements tested whether those changes appeared in the fermenting milk or cheese.
| Community member or comparison | Role examined | Observed consequence in the studied system |
|---|---|---|
| Streptococcus thermophilus | Interaction with Lactococcus strains | Its proteolytic activity relieved nitrogen limitation and supported de novo nucleotide biosynthesis in Lactococcus, helping those bacteria grow. |
| Lactococcus cremoris | Control of citrate metabolism | Limited formation of diacetyl and acetoin by rerouting citrate toward α-ketoglutarate. |
| Closely related Lactococcus lactis strains | Strain-level interaction differences | Did not all interact with S. thermophilus in the same way. |
| Omitted strains or groups | Community membership | Changing which members were present altered bacterial growth and the measured flavour-compound profile. |
How S. thermophilus helped other starter bacteria
The clearest cooperative effect involved S. thermophilus and Lactococcus. The integrated analyses indicated that proteolytic activity by S. thermophilus released or made nitrogen resources available in a way that eased nitrogen limitation for Lactococcus. With that constraint reduced, Lactococcus could support de novo nucleotide biosynthesis, the pathway used to make nucleotides rather than relying solely on ready-made compounds in the milk.
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This is a useful distinction from the idea that one bacterium simply produces a flavour molecule and another does nothing. In the tested community, the presence of S. thermophilus changed the nutritional environment. That environmental change affected the growth capacity and metabolism of neighbouring strains, which in turn changed the mixture of compounds available to contribute to cheese aroma and taste.
The result does not mean that adding S. thermophilus will improve every cheddar. The effect depended on the particular strains, milk-fermentation conditions, and community tested. It does mean that a culture component can influence flavour indirectly by changing another member’s ability to grow and make metabolites.
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Why L. cremoris changed buttery notes
Diacetyl and acetoin are associated with buttery flavours. At moderate levels those notes may be desirable; at excessive levels they can become an off-flavour. In the experimental community, L. cremoris limited formation of both compounds.
The paper attributes that control to citrate metabolism. Instead of allowing as much citrate-derived carbon to flow toward diacetyl and acetoin, L. cremoris redirected citrate toward α-ketoglutarate. That rerouting changed the balance of end products measured in the system.
This finding illustrates why a flavour profile cannot be inferred from a list of organisms alone. Two cultures may both contain a citrate-metabolising Lactococcus species, yet differences in strain behaviour or in the organisms sharing the milk can shift how much citrate reaches buttery-flavour pathways.
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Species names are not enough: strain identity matters
Closely related L. lactis strains did not all interact with S. thermophilus in the same way. Some showed evidence of benefiting from its presence, while the interaction pattern was different for others. The safe interpretation is therefore strain-specific, not species-wide.
For cheesemakers, this distinction matters whenever a supplier changes a culture lot, combines strains, or substitutes one isolate for another. A label that names the same species does not establish identical nutrient use, growth dynamics, or flavour chemistry. The paper does not provide a universal ranking of strains, and it should not be read as saying that every L. lactis behaves identically in every cheddar process.
Why a community produces more than a list of individual metabolisms
Individual bacterial biochemistry remains important, but the experiment showed that community membership changes the context in which that biochemistry occurs. Removing one organism can alter nutrient availability, growth rates, and the pathways used by organisms that remain. The resulting flavour profile is therefore an emergent property of interactions as well as a sum of biochemical capabilities.
Lead researcher Chrats Melkonian described the observation in a statement quoted by Chemistry World: “When we did the experiment, it was obvious that part of the community clearly benefited from the presence of another member – Streptococcus thermophilus – and also the metabolic profile was significantly different when we removed specific members of the community, but not others,” explains Chrats Melkonian, a postdoctoral researcher at Utrecht University and Wageningen University and Research and lead researcher on the study. The report is at Chemistry World.
Bart Weimer, identified in that report as a microbiologist at the University of California, Davis, placed the work in a broader context: “An extensive literature base exists for the individual biochemistry but this work brings together the bacterial communication that are at play in the complex metabolic landscape that leads to the overall cheese flavour profiles,” he explains.
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What the findings mean for culture selection and process control
Think in consortia, not single-strain features
A culture chosen for acidification or a familiar flavour note can behave differently when its partner strains change. The paper supports evaluating a starter as a community whose members may supply nutrients, compete for them, or redirect shared metabolites.
Track strain composition when flavour shifts
If a process develops a different buttery note or a less familiar flavour balance, the relevant question may be whether the culture community changed, not only whether temperature or salt changed. The study shows why strain-level identity is worth recording alongside species names.
Use chemistry to diagnose, not just sensory descriptions
Diacetyl and acetoin provide measurable examples of compounds that can move with community membership. Chemical measurements can help determine whether a perceived change is associated with citrate routing or another pathway, although the paper does not establish a universal diagnostic threshold for commercial cheddar.
Be cautious when transferring a result
The observed interaction between S. thermophilus and Lactococcus, and the citrate rerouting attributed to L. cremoris, are useful hypotheses for related processes. They are not guaranteed outcomes when the milk, equipment, manufacturing schedule, culture formulation, or ripening conditions differ.
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- It does not show that one bacterial species determines the flavour of every cheddar.
- It does not prove that omitting a strain will produce the same result in another starter, dairy plant, or home recipe.
- It does not compare consumer starter products or cheesemaking kits.
- It does not turn the measured metabolite changes into a universal sensory score for “better” or “worse” cheese.
- It does not show that all members of the 21-strain Lactococcus blend make equal contributions.
The year-long cheddar experiment and the controlled milk fermentations were designed to reveal interactions under defined conditions. Their strength is the combination of community manipulation and multi-omic analysis; their boundary is that the conclusions remain tied to the cultures and processes actually tested.
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What this means if you make cheese at home
The investigators used a commercial starter culture, but they did not test home cheesemaking kits or compare suppliers. A kit can therefore be a way to make cheese, but there is no evidence here that it reproduces the study’s strain composition, year-long cheddar process, or flavour profile.
Home makers should treat the culture label, milk, temperature control, salting, and ripening conditions as parts of one system. If a result differs from a previous batch, changing community composition may be one explanation, but the paper does not provide a recipe for diagnosing a particular home batch.
How to read the headline’s “bacterial community” claim
The headline’s claim is strongest when kept close to the experiment: bacteria in a cheddar starter can influence one another, and those interactions can alter flavour-related chemistry. It is weaker when expanded into a promise that any named species will deliver a fixed flavour in every cheese.
Several authors of the primary paper disclosed current or former employment by Chr. Hansen A/S, a supplier of microbial cultures for food fermentation. That disclosure is relevant context when interpreting the work; it does not change the specific experimental observations about the defined starter community.
The practical takeaway
Cheddar flavour formation is a community process. In this study, S. thermophilus helped Lactococcus overcome nitrogen constraints, L. cremoris redirected citrate away from higher diacetyl and acetoin formation, and closely related L. lactis strains behaved differently from one another. The useful lesson for culture development and troubleshooting is to ask which strains are present, how they interact, and what metabolites those interactions redirect—while keeping every conclusion within the conditions in which it was measured.
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