Reblochon - Thermophilic Culture's Function > Discussion On Use Of Phage In Weakening Antibiotic Res

[george13]

In reading the various posts on Reblochon, I noticed that they call for the addition of TA 60 which to my understanding  is a thermophilic culture.  In my related readings, I understood that the ideal temperatures for a thermo are 111F - 140F.  In the Reblochon make however, I don't see myself exceeding 92-95F throughout the process.  At what point does this culture become active, if in fact it does, and perhaps someone with a better understanding of cultures could provide some further clarification as to why this is a necessary addition.  Thanks

[dthelmers]

Quoting a post from Linuxboy on this:
"Strep thermophilus salivarius to me is it's own beast. It's a cocci, like mesos, that operates at a wide temp range, spanning the middle of both meso (lactococcus) and thermo (lactobacillus) makes. The entire nomenclature of thermophilic and mesophilic cheeses and bacteria that is used in the industry is misleading. It reflects tradition and cheese differentiation more than any sort of genetic or scientific taxonomy that could be more useful for cheesemaking."
I know That Linuxboy has discussed this elsewhere, I'm trying to find the threads.
Here's some discussion on TA: http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,4841.msg37336.html#msg37336

[linuxboy]

Yep, yep, Strep is very special. And it gets more complicated. Lactobacilli are not all thermophilic. Some are mesophilic, especially NSLAbs. And traditional lactococcus strains vary in their tolerance levels, some reaching mid 100s comfortably.

When thinking about culture, everything you read in books about how there are mesophilic and thermophilic culture, it's basically oversimplified and mildly erroneous. Or rather to put another way, inexact. Look at the characteristics of your specific strain if you want to understand its optimum tolerance range when it thrives.

edit: in rebs, TA is for body and to achieve a specific acidification curve. Also helps as a phage preventative.

[Tomer1]

Linuxboy, have you heard about the new study where Phages were successfully used to carry "weakening" genes to antibiotic resistant hospital germs?

[linuxboy]

You mean phage therapy? Yes, been around for awhile I thought, just not used often. IIRC, some hospital was researching it recently  in trials for pseudomonas or listeria or klebsiella or similar.

[Tomer1]

No its not for medicinal uses, It takes the idea of "friendly bacteria" a leap forward.
Developed with hospital sanitary issues in mind, weakening antibiotic resistant strains and genetically transforming robust hospital bugs into weakys volnerable to even the ancient peniciliin    
Phage are the carriers and implant the modified genes into the bugs.

http://www.aftau.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=15659

[linuxboy]

Oh I see. Similar idea as the Russians had decades ago, but now with GE and adapted as a sanitizer. I didn't know anyone had productized it already, was just a matter of time.