Table 2.

Natural whey culture (NWC) and cheese samples used for slpH amplicon sequencing.

Sample	Type	Origin	qPCR Cq value1	Log10 copies ml−1 (g−1)	n° of STs detected	PCR Lgall
a	NWC	Villarzel, Switzerland	16.56 (± 0.26)	7.08 (± 0.08)	4	Negative
b	NWC	Corcelles-le-Jorat, Switzerland	15.56 (± 0.19)	7.37 (± 0.06)	3	Negative
c	NWC	Brenles, Switzerland	17.57 (± 0.08)	6.79 (± 0.02)	3	Negative
e	NWC	Semsales, Switzerland	17.17 (± 0.15)	6.90 (± 0.05)	3	Negative
f	NWC	Le Crêt, Switzerland	15.25 (± 0.10)	7.46 (± 0.03)	3	Negative
g	NWC	Châtel-St. Denis, Switzerland	17.09 (± 0.11)	6.93 (± 0.05)	3	Negative
h	NWC	Autigny, Switzerland	17.16 (± 0.16)	6.90 (± 0.05)	3	Negative
i	NWC	Chénes, Switzerland	18.00 (± 0.21)	6.67 (± 0.06)	3	Negative
k	NWC	Les Monts de Travers, Switzerland	16.60 (± 0.06)	7.07 (± 0.01)	3	Negative
l	NWC	La Brévine, Switzerland	14.16 (± 0.20)	7.77 (± 0.06)	1	Negative
m	NWC	La Sagne, Switzerland	17.57 (± 0.08)	6.94 (± 0.03)	3	Negative
n	NWC	Le Cerneux-Péquignot, Switzerland	14.28 (± 0.25)	7.74 (± 0.07)	4	Negative
o	NWC	Orsonnens, Switzerland	13.68 (± 0.23)	7.91 (± 0.07)	5	Negative
p	NWC	La Praz, Switzerland	12.72 (± 0.06)	8.18 (± 0.01)	4	Negative
q	NWC	Penthéréaz, Switzerland	12.05 (± 0.12)	8.13 (± 0.03)	3	Negative
1	Cheese	Dairy pilot plant	14.66 (± 0.19)	8.51 (± 0.04)	2	Negative
2	Cheese	Dairy pilot plant	20.69 (±0.02)	6.94 (± 0.08)	3	Negative
3	Cheese	Dairy pilot plant	21.63 (±0.87)	6.5 (± 0.23)	3	Negative

¹Cq, quantification cycles.

The population density of L. helveticus was quantified by qPCR. The PCR assay for L. gallinarum (Lgall) was negative for all samples examined. A negative PCR result means that L. gallinarum was not present at a population density of 2.45 × 10² CFU mL⁻¹ or higher.