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Author Spotlight: Exploring the Fermentation Microbiome Through Next-Generation Sequencing
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Fungal diversity and ecosystem function data from wine fermentation vats and microcosms
Primrose J Boynton1, Duncan Greig2
1Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology, Plön 24306, Germany.
Data in Brief
|June 23, 2016
Summary
Grape must fungal communities change over time. Researchers tracked these changes and measured glucose consumption, revealing key yeast roles in wine ecosystems.
Area of Science:
- Microbiology
- Enology
- Ecology
Background:
- Grape must, the precursor to wine, harbors a complex microbial community.
- Understanding must microbial dynamics is crucial for wine quality and consistency.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the temporal changes in fungal community composition within grape must.
- To assess the functional impact of specific yeasts on must ecosystem processes, such as glucose consumption.
Main Methods:
- Utilized Illumina MiSeq® for high-throughput sequencing of fungal DNA from must samples.
- Established laboratory microcosms using natural grape must and artificially assembled yeast communities.
- Measured glucose consumption and biomass production as indicators of microbial activity.
Main Results:
- Documented shifts in fungal community structure over time in both winery vats and laboratory microcosms.
- Quantified glucose consumption rates in different microcosm conditions.
- Calculated a "keystone index" to identify yeasts with disproportionately large functional impacts.
Conclusions:
- Fungal community composition in grape must is dynamic and changes throughout fermentation.
- Specific yeast species play critical roles in driving essential ecosystem functions within the must.
- The keystone index provides a valuable metric for understanding microbial contributions to wine fermentation.
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