QPCR was performed as described (Gong et al., 2007). Primers HDA1 and HDA2 were used for the measurement of
the total population of eubacteria. The population of lactobacilli and related lactic acid bacteria including Leuconostoc and
Pediococcus was estimated using primers Lab-0159 (5′- GGAAACAGRTGCTAATACCG-3′) and Univ-0515 (5′-
ATCGTATTACCGCGGCTGCTGGCA-3′) (Heilig et al., 2002; Collier et al., 2003).