Procambarus clarkii is an economically important freshwater crayfish species in China, with increasing ecological, scientific, and industrial value. In this study, 16S rRNA high-throughput sequencing was used to analyze microbial community dynamics in crayfish tail meat during 20 days of simulated cold-chain transportation at -10 °C. Results showed that microbial diversity and richness declined sharply at the beginning, followed by a slight, fluctuating decrease. Ecological community structure underwent only minor adjustments at the phylum and genus levels without dramatic shifts. At the phylum level, Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, and Actinobacteriota were dominant. At the genus level, Psychrobacter and ExiguobacteriumA were the main spoilage-related taxa. KEGG functional prediction revealed significant enrichment in spoilage-related pathways, including amino acid and carbohydrate metabolism and biogenic amine synthesis. A synergistic interaction between Psychrobacter and ExiguobacteriumA was identified as the key driver of spoilage, with Psychrobacter being the critical species. This study reveals microbial succession and spoilage mechanisms in crayfish tail meat during cold-chain transportation at -10 °C, providing a theoretical basis for optimizing preservation strategies.
Li et al. (Wed,) studied this question.