Microbial community dynamics in a traditional Swiss mountain cheese over 142 years of cheesemaking
Artikel i vetenskaplig tidskrift, 2026
The history of cheesemaking is deeply intertwined with the evolution of microbial communities, from spontaneous fermentation to modern, standardized practices. The rapid technological changes of the last century likely induced profound alterations in cheese microbial communities, yet this remains largely underexplored. Using shotgun metagenomics and 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing, we examined microbial community changes in Raclette du Valais, a traditional Swiss cheese, using preserved wheels from 1875 to 2017 from the same Alpine dairy. Our results reveal that significant differences in microbial community composition coincide with changes in production practices. The oldest cheese harbored a distinct bacterial community, dominated by Lactiplantibacillus paraplantarum , Streptococcus thermophilus , Pseudolactococcus laudensis , and gut-associated taxa. Antibiotic-resistance genes mirrored historical antibiotic use, lactic acid bacteria domestication predated the studied period, and bacteriophage genera from 1875 were already comparable to those of modern cheese factories. These findings highlight how human practices have shaped cheese microbiomes over time.
microbial communities
antibiotic resistance genes
shotgun metagenomics
bacteriophage diversity
lactic acid bacteria
cheesemaking history
16S rRNA amplicon sequencing
historical cheese wheels
Författare
Vincent Somerville
Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich (ETH)
Universite Laval
Marco Meola
DATABIOMIX GmbH
Agroscope
Abigail Nunes-Richards
Universität Zürich
Johan Bengtsson Palme
CARe
Chalmers, Life sciences, Systembiologi
Göteborgs universitet
Judith Neukamm
Universität Zürich
Kerttu Majander
Universität Basel
Marta Pla-Díaz
Universität Basel
Meral Turgay
Agroscope
Sylvain Moineau
Universite Laval
Monika Haueter
Agroscope
Hélène Berthoud
Agroscope
Ueli von Ah
Agroscope
Petra Lüdin
Agroscope
Verena J. Schuenemann
Universität Zürich
Universität Basel
Noam Shani
Agroscope
Current Biology
0960-9822 (ISSN)
Vol. 36 19 4870-4882.e4Etablering av normalnivåer för antibiotikaresistens i olika miljöer för miljöövervakning
Vetenskapsrådet (VR) (2019-00299), 2022-05-01 -- 2023-12-31.
Övervakning av framtidens antibiotikaresistens genom karaktärisering av nya resistensgener i miljön
Vetenskapsrådet (VR) (2023-01721), 2023-12-01 -- 2026-11-30.
Framtidens patogener och resistensgener
Stiftelsen för Strategisk forskning (SSF) (FFL21-0174), 2022-08-01 -- 2027-12-31.
Ämneskategorier (SSIF 2025)
Livsmedelsvetenskap
Mikrobiologi
DOI
10.1016/j.cub.2026.08.023
PubMed
42785314