Description
The present study aims to explore chemostat-based transcriptome analysis of mixed cultures by investigating interactions between the yeast S. cerevisiae and the lactic acid bacterium Lb. bulgaricus . S. cerevisiae and Lb. bulgaricus are both frequently encountered in kefir, a fermented dairy product (25). In the context of this study, this binary culture serves as a model for the many traditional food and beverage fermentation processes in which yeasts and lactic acid bacteria occur together (19,26-30). The design of the cultivation conditions was based on the observation that Lb. bulgaricus, but not S. cerevisiae, can use lactose as a carbon source for growth and that S. cerevisiae, but not Lb. bulgaricus, can grow on galactose that is released upon hydrolysis of lactose by the bacterial -galactosidase.