Ecological role-based design of synthetic microbial communities ensures stable and predictable microbiomes in fermented foods

Background: Achieving predictable functionality in synthetic microbial communities (SynComs) remains a central challenge in food microbiome engineering. This is particularly relevant for traditional fermented foods, which are integral to diverse dietary habits worldwide and rely on stable microbial consortia for performance. Using sourdough as a model fermenting ecosystem, we investigated whether SynComs designed according to ecological roles (dominant, subdominant, and satellite) can sustain fermentation functionality despite taxonomic substitutions.

背景：在食品微生物组工程领域，实现合成微生物群落（Synthetic Microbial Communities，SynComs）功能的可预测性仍是一项核心挑战。这一点对于传统发酵食品尤为关键：这类食品是全球多元饮食体系不可或缺的组成部分，其发酵性能依赖于稳定的微生物群落结构。本研究以酸面团作为模式发酵生态系统，探究依据生态功能角色（优势菌群、次优势菌群与卫星菌群）构建的SynComs，在面临分类学替换时能否维持其发酵功能。