A tractable fermented-food surface biofilm system based on cheese rind microbial communities. Wolfe and colleagues surveyed 137 rind communities across 10 countries, isolated representatives of the dominant bacterial and fungal genera, and reconstructed simplified cheese-curd-agar communities in vitro to test how moisture, washing, pH, and bacterial-fungal interactions shape reproducible community assembly and succession.
Taxonomy
| Taxon | Ontology ID | Functional Roles | Abundance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Staphylococcus | NCBITaxon:1279 · TaxonMech · TraitMech | DOMINANT | |
| Brevibacterium | NCBITaxon:1696 · TaxonMech · TraitMech | ABUNDANT | |
| Debaryomyces | NCBITaxon:4958 · TaxonMech · TraitMech | ABUNDANT | |
| Penicillium | NCBITaxon:5073 · TaxonMech · TraitMech | ABUNDANT |
Ecological Interactions
The graph shows only explicitly linked interaction participants. Community members without an asserted participant link are omitted; membership alone does not imply an interaction.
Moisture-Structured Rind Community Assembly
HYPOTHESIZED - moisture-dependent assembly remains an unresolved mechanism in this record. The retained abstract supports broad community-composition patterns, not a moisture-specific effect or separation of moisture from salt. Exact treatment membership and causal attribution require assay-specific evidence; the four listed genera are not a verified complete assay roster.
Biological Processes:
- biofilm formation (GO:0042710 · PathwayMech)
Proposed Fungal Deacidification and Bacterial Growth Responses
PARTIAL - fungal deacidification is a candidate explanation for bacterial growth responses, not a mechanism established by the retained abstract. That abstract reports positive and negative bacterial-fungal interactions without assigning pH mediation or responsive pairs. Facilitation cannot be assigned across the four listed genera. Exact-system evidence and assay scope remain unresolved in issue 765.
Biological Processes:
- biological process involved in interspecies interaction between organisms (GO:0044419 · PathwayMech)
Reproducible Natural-Rind Succession
A simplified in vitro reconstruction recapitulated broad in situ community-composition and succession patterns, as reported in the retained abstract. This does not establish exact timing, quantitative agreement, or facilitation of later colonizers by earlier members. Assay-specific membership remains unresolved; the four listed genera must not be treated as a verified succession subset.
Biological Processes:
- biofilm formation (GO:0042710 · PathwayMech)
Evidence
-
PMID:25036636 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)"Patterns of community composition and succession observed in situ can be recapitulated in a simple in vitro system."
Associated Datasets
| Dataset | Type | Repository | Accession |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Cheese rind amplicon and metagenomic survey
Primary study reporting 16S rDNA, ITS, metagenomic, culturing, and in vitro reconstruction data for cheese rind microbial communities. |
AMPLICON_16S | OTHER | PMID:25036636 |
Knowledge gaps & discussions (1)
KNOWLEDGE_GAP OPEN Which assay-specific members and permitted exact-system evidence support the three retained graph summaries?
Issue 765 remains open. The 2026-10-15 reassessment read both retained abstracts; primary methods, figures and Table S5 were not available for complete inspection. Search-index membership and protocol leads are not verified source evidence. No deleted publication body is restored. Resolve each assay's member set, growth versus recovery conditions, moisture/salt attribution and pH mediation before strengthening the graph. The current repair qualifies existing descriptions only: three nodes, zero arrows and needs_research remain. Non-graph media, cultivation and aroma claims are preserved, not certified. A one-community Edison dry run submitted no provider job; new structure still requires the authorized real-run workflow when credentials are available. See issue 2015 for the separate wording repair and reports/causal_graph_review/20261015-cheese-evidence/source-access.md for access limits.
Attaches to: ecological_interactions#Moisture-Structured Rind Community Assembly, ecological_interactions#Proposed Fungal Deacidification and Bacterial Growth Responses, ecological_interactions#Reproducible Natural-Rind Succession
Environmental Factors
| Factor | Value | Unit |
|---|---|---|
| rind moisture | natural-rind treatment drier than undried plates | N/A |
| cheese curd medium pH | initial low pH near 5, with fungal deacidification | N/A |
Growth Media
Cross-Mech Suite Links
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