Microbiome. 2026 Jul 23;14(1):186. doi: 10.1186/s40168-026-02463-0.
ABSTRACT
The Metaproteomics Initiative was officially launched in 2021 to strengthen collaboration, promote knowledge exchange, and support and lead standardization efforts within the growing metaproteomics community. Over the past 5 years, the Initiative has developed into a structured, global network of researchers. It has launched community-driven benchmark studies, helped shape emerging metadata and reporting standards, developed practical guidance and training materials, organized international symposia, and fostered connections across the microbiome research landscape ( https://metaproteomics.org/ ). We outline the Initiative’s organization, activities, achievements, and ongoing efforts, and reflect on how sustained, community-led coordination has shaped the development of metaproteomics as a field. We further position the Grand Metaproteome Challenges as a next step toward coordinated, community-scale biological research, aimed at advancing functional microbiome studies across clinical, industrial, and environmental application domains, and invite engagement from the wider microbiome and omics communities. Video Abstract.
PMID:42493801 | DOI:10.1186/s40168-026-02463-0
