Metagenomic/Metaproteomic Investigation of the Microbiota in Dongbei Suaicai, a Traditional Fermented Chinese Cabbage

Highlights What are the main findings? Important metabolic pathways related to carbohydrate and amino acid metabolisms were enriched. Pediococcus was first found to be one of the most popular genera of late fermentation. What is the implication of the main finding? The multi-omics of metagenomics and metaproteomics was used to research the microbial ecosystem of Dongbei Suaicai.Highlights What are the main findings? Important metabolic pathways related to carbohydrate and amino acid metabolisms were enriched. Pediococcus was first found to be one of the most popular genera of late fermentation. What is the implication of the main finding? The multi-omics of metagenomics and metaproteomics was used to research the microbial ecosystem of Dongbei Suaicai.Abstract Dongbei Suaicai (DBSC) has a complicated microbial ecosystem in which the composition and metabolism of microbial communities during the process have not been well explored. Here, combined metagenomic and metaproteomic technology was used to reveal the taxonomic and metabolic profiles of DBSC. The results showed that firmicutes and proteobacteria were the prevalent bacteria in phylum and Pseudomonas, while Weissella, Pediococcus, and Leuconostoc were the prevalent genus. The vital metabolic pathways were involved in glycolysis/gluconeogenesis [path: ko00010], as well as pyruvate metabolism [path: ko00620], fructose and mannose metabolism [path: Ko00051], glycine, and serine and threonine metabolism [path: Ko00260]. Moreover, the key proteins (dps, fliC, tsf, fusA, atpD, metQ, pgi, tpiA, eno, alaS, bglA, tktA, gor, pdhD, aceE, and gnd) in related metabolized pathways were enriched during fermentation. This study will aid in facilitating the understanding of the fermentation mechanisms of DBSC.