Longitudinal, Multi-platform Metagenomics Yields a High-quality Genomic Catalog and Guides an In Vitro Model for Cheese Communities

Microbiomes are intricately intertwined with human health, geochemical cycles and food production. While many microbiomes of interest are highly complex and experimentally intractable, cheese rind microbiomes have proven powerful model systems for the study of microbial interactions. To provide a more comprehensive view of the genomic potential and temporal dynamics of cheese rind communities, we combine longitudinal, multi-platform metagenomics of three ripening washed-rind cheeses with whole genome sequencing of community isolates. Sequencing-based approaches revealed a highly reproducible microbial succession in each cheese, co-existence of closely related Psychrobacter species, and enabled the prediction of plasmid and phage diversity and their host associations. Combined with culture-based approaches, we established a genomic catalog and a paired 16-member in vitro washed rind cheese system. The combination of multi-platform metagenomic time-series data and an in vitro model provides a rich resource for further investigation of cheese rind microbiomes both computationally and experimentally. ImportanceMetagenome sequencing can provide great insights into microbiome composition and function and help researchers develop testable hypotheses. Model microbiomes, such as those composed of cheese rind bacteria and fungi, then allow the testing of these hypotheses in a controlled manner. Here, we first generate an extensive longitudinal metagenomic dataset. This dataset reveals successional dynamics, yields a phyla-spanning bacterial genomic catalog, associates mobile genetic elements with their hosts and provides insights into functional enrichment of Psychrobacter in the cheese environment. Next, we show that members of the washed-rind cheese microbiome lend themselves to in vitro community reconstruction. This paired metagenomic data and in vitro system can thus be used as a platform for generating and testing hypotheses related to the dynamics within, and functions associated with, cheese rind microbiomes.