Metabolism and Transport of Sugars and Organic Acids by Lactic Acid Bacteria from Wine and Must

Oenococcus oeni and other heterofermentative lactic acid bacteria from wine are able to grow at the expense of hexose and pentose sugars using the phosphoketolase pathway. Fermentation of hexoses is limited by low activity of the enzymes for ethanol production. Erythritol is formed as an alternative product, but the enzymes of the pathway are mostly unknown. Presence of fructose, citrate, pyruvate or O2 results in a shift of hexose fermentation to acetate at the expense of ethanol. O. oeni and other lactic acid bacteria are able to degrade organic acids of wine such as citrate, l-malate, pyruvate, l-tartrate and fumarate. The pathways for tartrate and fumarate degradation are known only in …