Functional Analysis of a Food Curing Process and the Genomic Characterization of Vibrio hibernica sp. nova with Industrial Potential

The Wiltshire process is a traditional meat curing method applied to meat and special recognition is given to the maintenance of a live rich microflora within the curing brine. The characteristic microbial community is actively maintained and consists of genera, Marinilactibacillus, Carnobacterium, Leuconostoc, and Vibrio. All of the core bacteria present in the brine are Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB), with the exception of the Vibrio genus. Vibrio isolates from Wiltshire brine were cultured and characterized. The genome was sequenced by Illumina MiSeq. The isolated Vibrio species was defined as a unique novel species, named Vibrio hibernica.