Metagenomics reveals flavour metabolic network of cereal vinegar microbiota.
Multispecies microbial community formed through centuries of repeated batch acetic acid fermentation (AAF) is crucial for the flavour quality of traditional vinegar produced from cereals. However, the metabolism to generate and/or formulate the essential flavours by the multispecies microbial community is hardly understood. Here we used metagenomic approach to clarify in situ metabolic network of key microbes responsible for flavour synthesis of a typical cereal vinegar, Zhenjiang aromatic vinegar, produced by solid-state fermentation. First, we identified 3 organic acids, 7 amino acids, and 20 volatiles as dominant vinegar metabolites. Second, we revealed taxonomic and functional composition of the microbiota by metagenomic shotgun sequencing. A total of 86 201 predicted protein-coding genes from 35 phyla (951 genera) were involved in Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathways of Metabolism (42.3%), Genetic Information Processing (28.3%), and Environmental Information Processing (10.1%). Furthermore, a metabolic network for substrate breakdown and dominant flavour formation in vinegar microbiota was constructed, and microbial distribution discrepancy in different metabolic pathways was charted. This study helps elucidating different metabolic roles of microbes during flavour formation in vinegar microbiota.
['Wu|Lin-Huan|LH|', 'Lu|Zhen-Ming|ZM|', 'Zhang|Xiao-Juan|XJ|', 'Wang|Zong-Min|ZM|', 'Yu|Yong-Jian|YJ|', 'Shi|Jin-Song|JS|', 'Xu|Zheng-Hong|ZH|']
D019342:Acetic Acid D005421:Flavoring Agents D005516:Food Microbiology D007202:Indicators and Reagents D053858:Metabolic Networks and Pathways D056186:Metagenomics D064307:Microbiota D013649:Taste
Metagenomics Flavour Cereal vinegar Microbiota Metabolic pathway