Towards microbial consortia in fermented foods for metabolic engineering and synthetic biology

The fermented foods microbiota, whose community structures evolve through a succession of different microbial groups, play a central role in fermented food production. The texture and flavor, functions, shelf-life and safety, are largely determined by the interactions among bacteria and yeast within these communities. Although much indispensable work has described the microbial composition and succession in various fermentation foods, yet the specific microbial interactions involved are not well understood. Here, we review the current mechanisms of microbial interactions (amensalism, competition, commensalism, and mutualism) existed in the fermented foods. We also examine the function of these interactions. In addition, we provide our perspectives on the future development of functional and novel fermented foods by combining the new starter cultures with the native microbial consortia and applications of these stable and robust microbial consortia for metabolic engineering and synthetic biology.