Data Avaibility Statement:Comparative Profiling of Yeast Communities in Kefir Grains and Liquid Kefir Using ITS Amplicon Next-Generation Sequencing

Taxonomic profiling revealed 122 yeast taxa in kefir grains and 221 taxa in the liquid fraction, with 182 taxa shared between both habitats. Grain samples were relatively enriched in Pichia fermentans, whereas Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Kluyveromyces marxianus, and Pichia kudriavzevii were more abundant in the liquid phase. Several taxa occurred at moderate abundance across both fractions, suggesting ecological persistence within the fermentation system. Rather than indicating functional specialization, these patterns primarily reflect spatial distribution of detectable yeast taxa within a single fermentation context. Given the absence of biological replication, the findings are interpreted as descriptive observations intended to generate ecological hypotheses rather than population-level generalizations.