Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology

The Korean Society for Microbiology and Biotechnology (한국미생물·생명공학회)
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Seasonal Changes in the Microbial Communities on Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) in Chungcheong-do, South Korea

  • Woojung Lee (Division of Food Microbiology, National Institute of Food and Drug Safety Evaluation, Ministry of Food and Drug Safety) ;
  • Min-Hee Kim (Division of Food Microbiology, National Institute of Food and Drug Safety Evaluation, Ministry of Food and Drug Safety) ;
  • Juyeon Park (Division of Food Microbiology, National Institute of Food and Drug Safety Evaluation, Ministry of Food and Drug Safety) ;
  • You Jin Kim (Division of Food Microbiology, National Institute of Food and Drug Safety Evaluation, Ministry of Food and Drug Safety) ;
  • Eiseul Kim (Institute of Life Sciences and Resources and Department of Food Science and Biotechnology, Kyung Hee University) ;
  • Eun Jeong Heo (Division of Food Microbiology, National Institute of Food and Drug Safety Evaluation, Ministry of Food and Drug Safety) ;
  • Seung Hwan Kim (Division of Food Microbiology, National Institute of Food and Drug Safety Evaluation, Ministry of Food and Drug Safety) ;
  • Gyungcheon Kim (Department of Food Science and Biotechnology, and Carbohydrate Bioproduct Research Center, College of Life Science, Sejong University) ;
  • Hakdong Shin (Department of Food Science and Biotechnology, and Carbohydrate Bioproduct Research Center, College of Life Science, Sejong University) ;
  • Soon Han Kim (Division of Food Microbiology, National Institute of Food and Drug Safety Evaluation, Ministry of Food and Drug Safety) ;
  • Hae-Yeong Kim (Institute of Life Sciences and Resources and Department of Food Science and Biotechnology, Kyung Hee University)
  • Received : 2022.10.02
  • Accepted : 2022.12.02
  • Published : 2023.02.28
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Abstract

Lettuce is one of the most consumed vegetables worldwide. However, it has potential risks associated with pathogenic bacterial contamination because it is usually consumed raw. In this study, we investigated the changes in the bacterial community on lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) in Chungcheong-do, South Korea, and the prevalence of foodborne pathogens on lettuce in different seasons using 16S rRNA gene-based sequencing. Our data revealed that the Shannon diversity index showed the same tendency in term of the number of OTUs, with the index being greatest for summer samples in comparison to other seasons. Moreover, the microbial communities were significantly different between the four seasons. The relative abundance of Actinobacteriota varied according to the season. Family Micrococcaceae was most dominant in all samples except summer, and Rhizobiaceae was predominant in the microbiome of the summer sample. At the genus level, the relative abundance of Bacillus was greatest in spring samples, whereas Pseudomonas was greatest in winter samples. Potential pathogens, such as Staphylococcus and Clostridium, were detected with low relative abundance in all lettuce samples. We also performed metagenome shotgun sequencing analysis on the selected summer and winter samples, which were expected to be contaminated with foodborne pathogens, to support 16S rRNA gene-based sequencing dataset. Moreover, we could detect seasonal biomarkers and microbial association networks of microbiota on lettuce samples. Our results suggest that seasonal characteristics of lettuce microbial communities, which include diverse potential pathogens, can be used as basic data for food safety management to predict and prevent future outbreaks.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

This research was supported by a grant (No. 20161MFDS026) from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. The findings and conclusions of this article are our own and do not necessarily represent the views of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety.

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