PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Gabriela Fiori da Silva AU - Anupam Gautam AU - Iolanda Cristina Silveira Duarte AU - Tiago Palladino Delforno AU - Valéria Maia de Oliveira AU - Daniel H. Huson TI - Interactive Analysis of Biosurfactants in Fruit-Waste Fermentation Samples using BioSurfDB and MEGAN AID - 10.1101/2021.11.11.468240 DP - 2021 Jan 01 TA - bioRxiv PG - 2021.11.11.468240 4099 - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2021/11/13/2021.11.11.468240.short 4100 - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2021/11/13/2021.11.11.468240.full AB - Microbial biosurfactants are of major interest due to their multifunctional properties, biodegradable nature and low toxicity. Agroindustrial waste, such as fruit waste, can be used as substrates for producing bacteria. In this study, six samples of fruit waste, from oranges, mangoes and mixed fruits, were self-fermented, and then subjected to short-read metagenomic sequencing, so as to allow assessment of the potential of the associated microbiota for biosurfactant production. Taxonomic analysis using the DIAMOND+MEGAN analysis pipeline shows that all six samples are dominated by Proteobacteria, in particular, a common core consisting of the genera Klebsiella, Enterobacter, Stenotrophomonas, Acinetobacter and Escherichia. To support the interactive visualization and exploration of the surfactant-related genes in such samples, we have integrated the BiosurfDB classification into MEGAN and make this available. Functional analysis indicates high similarity among samples and that a significant number of reads map to genes that are involved in the biosynthesis of lipopeptide-class biosurfactants. Gene-centric analysis reveals Klebsiella as the main assignment for genes related to putisolvins biosynthesis. This suggests that fruit waste is a promising substrate for fermentative processes because the associated microbiota may be able to produce biosurfactants that are potentially useful for the agricultural, chemical, food and pharmaceutical industries.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.