## 3 Results  
Lactic acid was detected 48 h after _L. thermotolerans_ was inoculated, indicating the survival of the non-_Saccharomyces_ species at the beginning of fermentation. After the inoculation of _S. cerevisiae_ strains, the production of lactic acid ceased, and no non-_Saccharomyces_ yeasts were detected. The moment that _S. cerevisiae_ was added (48 h), the densities of the fermented mustets were W1: 1.0935, W2: 1.0935, W3: 1.0935, W4: 1.0823, W5: 1.089, and W6: 1.078, and the pH value was 3.1. The microbiological analyses performed on the final day of each fermentation revealed that the _Saccharomyces_ population ranged between 6.3-7.2 log CFU/mL, while the non-_Saccharomyces_ one was below the enumeration limit (2 log CFU/mL). A total of 200 colonies were obtained from the plates of the final dilution, as described in paragraph 2.4. Interdelta sequence profile analysis suggested that the _S. cerevisiae_ strains used as inoculum, either in mono- or co-culture with the _L. thermotolerans_ strain, dominated their respective yeast microcommunity (Figure 1). Indeed, _S. cerevisiae_ strain A6Y10 dominated cases W1 and W4, _S. cerevisiae_ strain A26Y23 cases W2 and W5, and _S. cerevisiae_ strain Sc1 cases W3 and W6. The _L. thermotolerans_ strain was not detected at all. Apart from the _S. cerevisiae_ strains used as inocula, nine other strains, designated S1-S9, were also recovered from the Wallerstein Laboratory Nutrient agar that was employed for the enumeration of the _Saccharomyces_ population. Figure 1: The microecosystem composition at the end of each fermentation (inoculation cases: W1: _L. thermotolerans_ strain Lt1—S. cerevisiae strain A6Y10; W2: _L. thermotolerans_ strain Lt1—S. cerevisiae strain A26Y23; W3: _L. thermotolerans_ strain Lt1—S. cerevisiae strain Sc1; W4: _S. cerevisiae_ strain A6Y10; W5: _S. cerevisiae_ strain A26Y23; W6: _S. cerevisiae_ strain Sc1). The indigenous _S. cerevisiae_ strains are indicated by the letter S (S1–S9). In Table 2, the classical oenological characteristics of the wines produced in the present study are shown. Assyrtiko must fermentation was completed after 12 d when the _L. thermotolerans_ strain was used (cases W1, W2, and W3). This constitutes a significant acceleration, compared to the 18 d that the _S. cerevisiae_ strains A6Y10 and A26Y23 required to complete the fermentation when used as monoculures (cases W4 and W5). On the contrary, the _L. thermotolerans_ strain seemed to decelerate the fermentation driven by _S. cerevisiae_ strain Sc1, which was completed after 8 d, when the latter was used as a monoculture (case W6). The final alcoholic volume ranged between 13.5-13.8% _v/v_, with _S. cerevisiae_ strain Sc1 resulting in lowest and _S. cerevisiae_ strains A6Y10 and A26Y23 in the highest ones. Regarding total and volatile acidity, the use of the _L. thermotolerans_ strain resulted in alleviating the differences between the _S. cerevisiae_ strains. More specifically, the lowest total acidity of 6.48 g/L was obtained by _S. cerevisiae_ strains A6Y10 (case W4) and Sc1 (case W6). On the other hand, the highest total acidity of 6.9 g/L was obtained by _S. cerevisiae_ strain A26Y23 (case W5). The use of _L. thermotolerans_ resulted in total acidity ranging from 7.14 to 7.26 g/L, without statistically significant differences between the cases W1-W3. Similarly, the lowest volatile acidity of 0.2 g/L was obtained by _S. cerevisiae_ strain Sc1, whereas the volatile acidity of the wines made by _S. cerevisiae_ strains A6Y10 and A26Y23 was 0.6 and 0.61 g/L, respectively. The wines made with the use of the _L. thermotolerans_ strain exhibited volatile acidity ranging from 0.41 to 0.43 g/L. This uniformity was also observed in the case of the pH value, as well as in the final L-lactic and L-malic acid concentrations. The pH value of all the wines presented no statistically significant differences and ranged between 2.9-3.0. No L-lactic acid was detected in the wines made by the monocultures of the _S. cerevisiae_ strains, while L-malic acid ranged within 1.1-1.3 g/L.