Complex microbial ecosystems multiscale modelling: mechanistic and data driven approaches integration.

European dairy industry is an important agri-food sector; it represents more than 300,000 jobs and 10 billion € positive trade balance. Five out of the ten top global dairy companies are European and more than 80% of European companies are SMEs.

More than 300 cheeses and dairy products are sold all over the world and are protected as geographical indications or traditional specialties.

Mastering cheese-ripening processes to avoid sanitary risk and waste, and produce typical cheeses with organoleptic properties valued by the consumers is of economic and social significance.

E-MUSE aims to develop innovative modelling methodologies to improve knowledge about complex biological systems and to control and/or predict their evolution by combining artificial intelligence and systems biology.

This multidisciplinary strategy integrating genome-scale metabolic models, dynamic modelling methodologies, together with the design of efficient statistical and machine learning tools, will allow analysing of multi-omics data and linking the results to macro-scale properties related to cheese ripening and consumer preference.

Bioinformatics has addressed this issue by data mining; however, a gap still exists between the molecular scale information and the macroscopic properties that E-MUSE will contribute to fill.

Moreover, in the context of sustainable development, more and more consumers are diversifying their diet and consume plant-based food. Introduction of plant-based proteins in the cheese process brings issues such as bitterness or safety. Modelling strategies from the E-MUSE project will help to target and solve these issues.

Finally, E-MUSE will train researchers with multidisciplinary skills in mathematics, bioinformatics and/or biology to design and use innovative multiscale modelling methodologies, with the ultimate outcome of a dynamic modelling software giving researchers a harmonised language to address future research questions about complex biological systems.