Nutrition and Habitat

    Nutrition

     The Oenococcus oeni a bacteria is naturally occurring

in fruit mashes of all types, but most famously, grape

mash. It thrives in nutrient rich environments, especially

those with malic acid, which it feeds off, producing lactic

acid as a product of what is called malolactic fermentation,

which you can learn more about here. It also consumes

carbohydrates via the  heterolactic pathway. O. oeni seems

to grow best in high-nutrient, low oxygen environments.

Recent studies show that O. oeni grows poorly in aerobic

(high oxygen) conditions with glucose as the only

carbohydrate as the medium; they best grow with fructose

and maltose in the medium, rather than just glucose. For

this reason, Oenococcus oeni flourishes in fermented wines.

   Habitat

    Oenococcus oeni is known for it's ability to survive in low

pH and high ethanol leveled environments, such as newly

fermented wine. Most wine lovers will know that wine

undergoes a fermentation process using yeast, and the

yeast produces ethanol and acid, making the wine acidic

and highly alcoholic. The studies done on O. oeni show it to

be very tolerant of these types of conditions, and the fact that

it converts maltose to lactose makes it a prime choice for

wine-makers in improving the quality of their wine.

    We found no pages or articles of any kind indicating

whether O. oeni is an autotroph, heterotroph, or chemotroph.

With additional analysis of information, we have deduced that

O. oeni  would be a chemoautotroph, or a bacteria that derives

energy from chemical reactions, and uses inorganic energy

sources to function.