Pediococcus inopinatus with a well-developed CRISPR-Cas system dominates long-term fermented kimchi

Researchers at the World Institute of Kimchi found that Pediococcus inopinatus is generally dominant in Mukeunji, long-term fermented kimchi in the final stage of fermentation. Its genome has a well-developed CRISPR system with an extra copy of the csa3 gene and many actively expressed spacers, which the authors say enables it to dominate, and they propose a succession model for kimchi lactic acid bacteria.