Environmental Monitoring- The Power of Metagenomics

Τhe Metagenomic Mapping Service approach from QACS,  combines the long standing microbiology experience of our experts on plant and production areas. With the power of Next Generation Sequencing and metagenomic analysis you can accurately :

• Map and monitor the complete microbiome of your production facility.
• Pinpoint pathogens and contaminants in the environment.
• Identify their routes and biofilms.
• Track their sources proactively.
• Gain full insight of the microbial populations in your production environment before it affects your products.
• Use the data retrospectively to identify possible sources of contamination in case of QC failure.

Untargeted approach: You only find what you look for…
Although bacteria can be found anywhere, their presence in production environments, such as cosmetics/drug manufacturing and food processing plants, poses a constant threat.

When harmful or spoilage bacteria enter a product, QA/QC managers face a huge challenge to control/prevent recalls. Since production processes nowadays are well designed and automated, to control unwanted bacteria, you mostly need to control the environment of your production.

The classical approach with swabs and culture plates only detects a limited number of microorganisms that are able to grow in the conditions used, and with a variable performance. Their results are often difficult to interpret or even meaningless.

MMS gives an untargeted approach to this procedure revealing the full picture:

• Samples are taken from all important sources in the production environment.
• Total DNA is isolated from all samples and sequenced with NGS.
• The full depth of the microbiome of each sample is revealed from each sample analysis.
• Combining the results of each sample a full microbiome map of the production environment is revealed.
• Metadata analysis, heatmaps and most of all our expert’s insight results in a comprehensive report with clear interpretation of the findings and suggestions for corrective actions.