We are rapidly increasing our understanding on the spatial distribution of microbial communities. However, microbial functioning, as well as temporal differences and mechanisms causing microbial community shifts, remains comparably little explored. Here, using Chinese liquor fermentation as a model system containing a low microbial diversity, we studied temporal changes in microbial community structure and functioning. For that, we used high-throughput sequencing to analyze the composition of bacteria and fungi and analyzed the microbially derived metabolome throughout the fermentation process in all four seasons in both 2018 and 2019. We show that microbial communities and the metabolome changed throughout the fermentation process in each of the four seasons, with metabolome diversity increasing throughout the fermentation process. Across seasons, bacterial and fungal communities as well as the metabolome driven by 10 indicator microorganisms and six metabolites varied even more. Daily average temperature in the external surroundings was the primary determinant of the observed temporal microbial community and metabolome changes. Collectively, our work reveals critical insights into patterns and processes determining temporal changes of microbial community composition and functioning. We highlight the importance of linking taxonomic to functional changes in microbial ecology to enable predictions of human-relevant applications.

中文翻译：

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温度引起的微生物群落变化的年度变化以及在受控发酵系统中导致的代谢组变化。

我们正在迅速增加对微生物群落空间分布的了解。然而，微生物功能，以及造成微生物群落转移的时间差异和机制，目前仍很少被探索。在这里，我们以白酒发酵为模型，其中微生物多样性较低，我们研究了微生物群落结构和功能的时间变化。为此，我们使用高通量测序来分析细菌和真菌的组成，并在2018年和2019年的所有四个季节中分析了整个发酵过程中微生物衍生的代谢组。我们显示了微生物群落和代谢组在整个发酵过程中发生了变化在四个季节的每个季节中，代谢组多样性在整个发酵过程中都会增加。跨季节，细菌和真菌群落以及由10种指示微生物和6种代谢产物驱动的代谢组变化更大。周围环境的日平均温度是观察到的颞部微生物群落和代谢组变化的主要决定因素。总的来说，我们的工作揭示了对决定微生物群落组成和功能的时间变化的模式和过程的重要见解。我们强调了将分类学与微生物生态学的功能变化联系起来以预测与人类相关的应用的重要性。周围环境的日平均温度是观察到的颞部微生物群落和代谢组变化的主要决定因素。总的来说，我们的工作揭示了对决定微生物群落组成和功能的时间变化的模式和过程的重要见解。我们强调了将分类学与微生物生态学的功能变化联系起来以预测与人类相关的应用的重要性。周围环境的日平均温度是观察到的颞部微生物群落和代谢组变化的主要决定因素。总的来说，我们的工作揭示了对决定微生物群落组成和功能的时间变化的模式和过程的重要见解。我们强调了将分类学与微生物生态学的功能变化联系起来以预测与人类相关的应用的重要性。