PacBio sequencing combined with metagenomic shotgun sequencing provides insight into the microbial diversity of zha-chili

• DOI: 10.1016/j.fbio.2021.100884
• Publication Date: 2021-01-18T07:40:08Z
• Authors: Wenchao Cai; Yurong Wang; Qiangchuan Hou; Zhendong Zhang; Fengxian Tang; Chunhui Shan; Xinquan Yang; Zhuang Guo
• Keywords: Illumina dye sequencing; KEGG

Abstract Zha-chili is a traditional Chinese fermented food, made by rice-flour or corn-flour with the chopped red chili. Over the years, it has played an important role in Hubei cuisine, but its precise bacterial profiles still remain unclear. In this study, the bacterial compositions of 28 zha-chili samples were determined by SMRT sequencing of the full-length 16S rRNA gene. Subsequently, E-nose, E-tongue and MSS sequencing were applied to evaluate the flavor and microbial metagenome of the zha-chili samples. The SMRT sequencing results revealed 425 bacterial species of 220 genera, belonging to 11 phyla, and 3 robust clusters (hereafter referred to as types) were identified. The most abundant species in zha-chili samples were considerably more Lactobacillus species, but sizable bacterial composition differences were also revealed across zha-chili sample types, for instance, a significant difference in Lactobacillus acetotolerans presence among 3 types samples. The results showed that the bacterial communities inside type I samples were complex and markedly differ from those of type II and type III. Negative correlations were found between NaCl content and Lactobacillus at genus level, and Lactobacillus acetotolerans at species level. These results indicate that NaCl content may contribute to the identified of specific bacterial types and affect the ecological succession of the bacterial communities during the fermentation process. The dominant bacterial species in zha-chili samples were extremely significantly correlated with aroma, but not with taste. In addition, 4 dominate KEGG pathways have been discovered, including metabolism, genetic information processing, environmental information processing and cellular processes.