Welcome to Romain Birritteri

Romain Birritterri, a Master’s student in Bioinformatics at Université Clermont Auvergne, joined the PAM Research Unit (UMR PAM) at the Poligny site (FROMEX platform) for an internship studying how the redox environment shapes cheese microbial communities. This project is funded by the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Region.

The role of redox reactions in lactic fermentation and cheese flavor formation is poorly understood. Modifying this environment—particularly by injecting more or less reducing gases into the cheesemaking vat—offers an innovative way to study the influence of redox on microbial balance independently of starter cultures. The FROMEX platform is equipped with unique facilities for precise regulation and detailed monitoring of redox conditions during cheese production.

The project aims to understand how changes in the redox environment influence microbial dynamics, metabolic activity, and aroma formation during cheesemaking and ripening. Cooked pressed cheeses made from pasteurized milk and inoculated with a simplified consortium of four representative strains served as the experimental model.

Using a transcriptomics approach, Romain will analyse RNA-Seq data to identify genes whose expression is affected by redox conditions within this simplified microbial community.

This research will deepen our understanding of cheese fermentation and open new possibilities for process optimization and innovative strategies to enhance cheese quality.