Abstract

Brettanomyces bruxellensis is one of the major causes of contamination in wine and is an important source of economic losses in this industry. In this work we developed a specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay for the detection of B. bruxellensis to be used in the confirmation stage of the microbiological analysis. From a random amplification analysis using 40 primers in various B. bruxellensis strains and other yeasts that are generally present in must and wine, we designed the primers E09F and E09R that amplified a 450 bp product only in B. bruxellensis strains. We determined that the concentration of the PCR components and the annealing temperature are relevant factors in the PCR reaction, which was optimized using the response surface methodology. The protocol developed confirmed the contamination by B. bruxellensis in wines obtained from cellars, showing the capacity and speed of the technique to specifically confirm the results of the microbiological analysis. © 2008, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.