Bacterial diversity of smoked and smoked-dried fish from West Africa: A metagenomic approach

摘要

This study aimed to explore the bacterial diversity of smoked fish and smoked-driedfish. Forty-eightfish samples were collected from various processing sites and marketsin Benin. The bacterial diversity was analyzed using high-throughputsequencingof the 16S rRNA gene on the Illumina MiSeq platform. In total, 16 bacterial phyla wereidentified across all samples, with the majority of sequences belonging to Firmicutes(43.3%) and Proteobacteria (43.6%). Families, Staphylococcaceae, Moraxellaceae,Planococcaceae, Enterobacteriaceae, Vibrionaceae, and Bartonellaceae, were wellrepresented. A total of 384 distinct genera was identified, with the most abundantrepresented by the Gram-negative,Acinetobacter, Bartonella, Enterobacter,Morganella, and Photobacterium, and the Gram-positive,Aerococcus, Bacillus, Kurthia,Macrococcus, Staphylococcus, and Weissella. OTUs related to pathogenic bacteria,such as Salmonella spp., Staphylococcus aureus, and Listeria monocytogenes, were notdetected in these popular foods sold in street markets in Benin. However, the presenceof potentially harmful histamine-producingbacteria has been revealed.Practical application: In West Africa, fish is mainly preserved by hot smoking, whichcan be followed by an additional drying step using the heat that emanates from thekiln. Although several studies have investigated the microbiological quality of smokedand smoked-driedfish, their overall microbial diversity has remained so far poorly explored.Therefore, this study has investigated the bacterial diversity of these popularfoods. The results of this work provide useful information on bacteria potentiallyparticipating in food spoilage or compromising the safety of these popular foods andcan be useful for improving their quality and safety.