Functional microbiota diversity of the Alto Adige cows' milk

The milk microbiota is a complex living entity, having inevitable repercussions on dairy biotechnology, and animal and human physiology. FUNMICROMILK aims at developing a new conceptual/ecological mechanistic view on how cause-and-effect relationships with farming conditions (Alto Adige territory) shape the assembly of the cows` milk microbiota. Cooperating with Federazione Latterie Alto Adige, questionnaires will be structured and administered to associated farmers to get information on farms, sustainability, animals, feeding, diets, milking and milk handling. Based on questionnaires, the farms will be clustered allowing a manageable but statistically significant size of milk samples to be analysed. Due to seasonal variations, sampling will be twice in a year. Representative cows´ milk samples will be subjected to chemical (gross composition, profiling of caseins, whey proteins and free fatty acids, aptitude to cheese making ) characterization. In parallel, cows´ milk samples will be subjected to microbiota/microbiome characterization, combining culture-dependent and -independent (high throughput sequencing) approaches, and omics technologies (meta-genomics) to highlight the distinguishing features of the microbiota of Alto Adige cows´ milk. A biobank, mainly consisting of autochthonous lactic acid bacteria strains, will represent one of the outcomes. The selection and formulation of adjunct cultures of autochthonous lactic acid bacteria for making typical cheeses. FUNMICROMILK will expand existing knowledge by generating comprehensive and multi-faceted data unique for Alto Adige and suitable as model system for other milk ecosystems.