02 Sep 2024 — International researchers created an open-access database of the “food microbiome” by sequencing the metagenomes of 2,533 different foods. They note that the database expands knowledge on food microbiomes and their role in shaping the human microbiome and supports future uses of metagenomics for food safety and authorization.
The team identified 10,899 metagenome-assembled genomes, grouped in 1,036 prokaryotic (single-celled organisms without a nucleus) and 108 eukaryotic (organisms with a nucleus) species, of which 320 taxa were previously undescribed.