Data for: Sourdough starters exhibit similar succession patterns but develop flour-specific climax communities

The microbial fermentation behind sourdough bread is among our oldest technologies, yet there are many opportunities for sourdough science to learn from traditional bakers. We analyzed the microbiome structure and function of 40 starters (grown from 10 types of flour) over 14 days and identified 6 distinct stages of succession. At each stage, bacterial taxa correlate with key functions that determine bread quality, including pH, rise, and aromatic profile. Day 1 starter cultures were dominated by microorganisms commonly associated with plants and flour and by aromas similar to toasted grain/cereal. Bacterial diversity peaked from days 2-6 as taxa shifted from opportunistic/generalist bacteria associated with flour inputs, toward specialized climax bacterial communities (days 10–14) characterized by acid-tolerant taxa and fruity (p<3.03e-03), sour (p<1.60e-01), and fermented (p<1.47e-05) aromas. This collection of traits changes predictably through time, regardless of flour type..., Five researchers grew a total of 40 starters from 10 different flour types: 4 replicates each of five flours containing gluten–unbleached all-purpose flour (processed from Triticum aestivum), red turkey wheat (Triticum aestivum), rye (Secale cereale), emmer (Triticum dicoccon), and einkorn (Triticum monococcum) – and five gluten-free flours – teff (Eragostis tef), millet (Eleusine coracana), sorghum (Sorghum spp.), buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum), and amaranth (Aramanthus caudatus). The all-purpose, red turkey wheat, emmer, einkorn, rye, and millet flours were milled at Boulted Bread Bakery (Raleigh, NC), while the teff, sorghum, buckwheat, and amaranth flours were purchased from commercial vendors online.
On day 0, two level tablespoons of flour and two tablespoons of distilled water were mixed in a half-pint wide-mouth glass jar with a sterilized spoon. All spoons were washed with soap and water and wiped with 70% ethanol immediately before mixing. A paper towel was fastened over the...,  The Fierer Microbial Community Sequencing Lab demultiplexed raw sequences to produce fastq files with the DADA2 pipeline, as described at (https://github.com/fiererlab/dada2_fiererlab/tree/626a1aff9abe1fcdcac7fdf57ba51f3cf1db1e8e).