Shotgun metagenomics approach reveals the bacterial community and metabolic pathways in commercial hongeo product, a traditional Korean fermented skate product

• Published in: Food research international 2020-05, Vol.131, p.109030-109030, Article 109030
• Main Authors: Zhao, Chang-Cheng, Eun, Jong-Bang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Ammonia - metabolism; Animals; Bacteria - classification; Bacteria - genetics; Bacteria - metabolism; Bacterial community; Fermentation; Fermented Foods and Beverages - microbiology; Fermented skate; Gene function; Lactobacillales - metabolism; Marine fish; Metabolic Networks and Pathways; Metabolic pathway; Metagenomics; Metagenomics - methods; Microbiota - genetics; Phylogeny; Republic of Korea; Seafood - microbiology; Skates, Fish
• ISSN: 0963-9969; 1873-7145
• DOI: 10.1016/j.foodres.2020.109030

[Display omitted] •Microbial diversity of different hongeo samples was investigated.•Gene function of microbiota in different hongeo samples was also studied.•Pseudomonas and Oceanisphaera played a critical role in the alkaline fermentation.•Alkaliphilic marine LAB was detected from hongeo samples.•Primary metabolic pathway were amino acid metabolism and carbohydrate metabolism. The aim of this study was to investigate the microbial diversity and microbial metabolic pathways using a metagenomic approach in commercial hongeo samples collected from five different fish processing plants. Community comparison analysis indicated that hongeo samples from different fish processing plants have a similar microbial structure at genus level, but the relative abundance of these genera showed a significant difference among different hongeo samples. Four bacterial genera including Psychrobacter, Pseudomonas, Clostridium, and Oblitimonas were detected in all hongeo samples with a high relative abundance, which associated with the nitrogen compound accumulation and ammonia flavor formation in hongeo samples. In addition, some alkaliphilic marine lactic acid bacteria (LAB) belonging to the genera Marinilactibacillus and Jeotgalibaca were detected in hongeo samples, indicating that this product might be a useful source for finding novel bacteria and possibly marine LAB. Through functional profiling analysis, it was found that hongeo samples had higher bacterial gene content related to amino acid metabolism, followed by carbohydrate metabolism and inorganic ion metabolism. The results of this study provide an important information for understanding the mechanism of quality characteristics and ammonia flavor formation in hongeo products.