Penicillium roqueforti population impact on blue cheese production

The study of food microorganism domestication can bring important insights on adaptation mechanisms and have industrial applications. The Penicillium roqueforti mold is divided into four main populations, with two populations domesticated for blue-cheese making and two populations thriving in other environments. While most blue cheeses worldwide are made with the same P. roqueforti clonal lineage, the emblematic Roquefort cheeses are made with a specific population. To study the differences among P. roqueforti populations in the context of domestication for cheesemaking, we compared blue cheeses made with the four fungal populations following Roquefort-type production specifications notably the bacterial flora.