Identification of Bulgarian Sourdough Microbiota by Metagenomic Approach Using Three Commercially Available DNA...

Area of Science:

• Microbiology
• Food Science
• Genomics

Background:

• Sourdough is a complex microbial ecosystem crucial for baked product quality.
• Understanding lactic acid bacteria (LAB) diversity is key for controlling sourdough nutritional characteristics.

Purpose of the Study:

• To elucidate the bacterial diversity in a whole grain sourdough from *Triticum monococcum*.
• To evaluate the impact of three different DNA extraction kits on observed bacterial diversity.

Main Methods:

• Utilized next-generation sequencing (NGS) of the V1-V3 hypervariable gene region of 16S rRNA.
• Compared microbial profiles obtained using three distinct commercial DNA isolation kits.
• Sequenced DNA on the Illumina MiSeq platform.

Main Results:

• All DNA extraction kits yielded sequenceable DNA, but protocols showed variations in microbial profiles and alpha diversity indices.
• A strong dominance of the phylum Firmicutes, class Bacilli, order Lactobacillales was observed.
• The genera *Lactobacillus* (63.11-82.28%) and *Weissella* (3.67-36.31%) were predominant, with *Lactiplantibacillus plantarum* and *Levilactobacillus brevis* identified as the dominant species.

Conclusions:

• The study provides insight into the bacterial community of a specific Bulgarian sourdough.
• Highlights the critical role of DNA extraction methods in sourdough microbiota analysis.
• Aims to contribute to establishing a standardized DNA extraction protocol for accurate sourdough microbiota assessment.