fig1

Figure 1. Design of the multi-strain blend used in the propagation experiment. Lactococcus lactis, Lactococcus cremoris and Leuconostoc mesenteroides were represented with 24 strains from eight genetic lineages of the Ur starter culture. The 24 strains are visualized in the first (inner) circle of the diagram where each color indicates a different genetic lineage. For bacteriophage challenge, a cocktail of three bacteriophages was used including lactococcal phage ϕTIFN1, ϕTIFN5 and ϕTIFN7. Strains in the blend differ among each other in terms of resistance to phages present in the cocktail - illustrated by black, dark grey and light grey columns in the second (outer) circle of the diagram. Lineage 8 encompasses Lc. mesenteroides ssp. cremoris strains, which are resistant to lactococcal phages used in this study. Cit: Citrate degradation ability; Lac: lactose utilization ability; Prt: caseinolytic protease activity.