Naturally aged cheeses like brie and some cheddars rely on microbes to develop a rind. This tough, sometimes fuzzy outside layer is often essential to a cheese’s funky taste, but unwanted molds can disrupt its formation. Now, researchers have identified a mold gene responsible for producing an antibiotic that disrupts rind-making bacteria, showing how a fungus can shape a microbiome. Recently published in mBio, the work suggests that science could help cheese-making artisans save their tasty products.1
Fungi release secondary metabolites that can influence bacterial growth, and sometimes they are exceptionally useful; the antibiotic penicillin is a famous example.2 But secondary metabolites from fungi can work against humans too, especially in cheese production, said microbiologist Nancy Keller from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, who coauthored the study.
The study started when a cheesemaker contacted Keller’s colleague, Ben Wolfe, a microbiologist at Tufts University, with the complaint that a fuzzy mold ...
