The annual TIFN Food Summit held in Wageningen on 9 to 10 December was on microbial networks in the food chain. As Jan Sikkema explains, most microorganisms in the food chain actively cooperate in consortia. These consortia can range from two to several hundred strains which behave as multi-cellular organisms to play a key role in processes ranging from flavour formation, production of bioactive ingredients and pathogenic contamination.
The versatility and resilience of a complex metabolic network is distributed over several strains and can only be uncovered by studying the consortium as a whole. This is now possible using advanced molecular techniques, high throughput screening tools and high resolution screening. These techniques enable the development of mathematical models to visualise and to predict the behaviour of the microorganisms in a consortium.

The two-day Summit considered microbial consortia from various perspectives including functionality in cheese and yoghurt, and in the large intestine and in the gut in relation to the host’s body weight.