Project description:The presence of anti-microbial phenolic compounds, such as the model compound ferulic acid, in biomass hydrolysates poses significant challenges to the widespread use of biomass in conjunction with whole cell biocatalysis or fermentation. Currently, these inhibitory compounds must be removed through additional downstream processing to create feedstock suitable for most industrially important microbial strains. This study explores the high ferulic acid tolerance in Lactobacillus brevis (L. brevis), a lactic acid bacteria often found in fermentation processes, by global transcriptional response analysis. The transcriptional profile of L. brevis under ferulic acid stress reveals that the presence of ferulic acid primarily triggers the expression of membrane proteins to counteract ferulic acid induced changes in membrane fluidity and ion leakage, in the midst of a generalized stress response. Several promising routes for understanding phenolic acid tolerance have been identified based upon these findings. These insights may be used to guide further engineering of model industrial organisms to better tolerate phenolic compounds in processed biomass.
Project description:The presence of anti-microbial phenolic compounds, such as the model compound ferulic acid, in biomass hydrolysates poses significant challenges to the widespread use of biomass in conjunction with whole cell biocatalysis or fermentation. Currently, these inhibitory compounds must be removed through additional downstream processing to create feedstock suitable for most industrially important microbial strains. This study explores the high ferulic acid tolerance in Lactobacillus brevis (L. brevis), a lactic acid bacteria often found in fermentation processes, by global transcriptional response analysis. The transcriptional profile of L. brevis under ferulic acid stress reveals that the presence of ferulic acid primarily triggers the expression of membrane proteins to counteract ferulic acid induced changes in membrane fluidity and ion leakage, in the midst of a generalized stress response. Several promising routes for understanding phenolic acid tolerance have been identified based upon these findings. These insights may be used to guide further engineering of model industrial organisms to better tolerate phenolic compounds in processed biomass. Three biological replicates were utilized for each time point. Total RNA was extracted using the Zymo Research Bacterial/Fungal RNA extraction kit Microarrays were indirectly labeled, hybridized, and washed according to the Fairplay III Kit protocol. Slides were scanned using the Axon GenePix 4200A scanner. Data normalization (LOWESS) was carried out on each array separately. The arithmetic average of probe signals was used to compute Log2 values.
Project description:Transcriptional profiling of Lactobacillus brevis UCCLBBS124 and UCCLBBS449 comparing control strain grown in MRS broth with strains growing in different stress conditons (5 % EtOH, pH4 or 30 ppm iso-a-acids).This study aimed to evaluate how certain Lb. brevis isolates are adapted so as to allow them to survive and grow in beer.
Project description:The presence of anti-microbial phenolic compounds, such as the model compound ferulic acid, in biomass hydrolysates poses significant challenges to the widespread use of biomass in conjunction with whole cell biocatalysis or fermentation. Biofuel toxicity must also be overcome to allow for efficient production of next generation biofuels such as butanol, isopropanol, and others for widespread usage. Currently, these inhibitory compounds must be removed through additional downstream processing or sufficiently diluted to create environments suitable for most industrially important microbial strains. This study explores the high ferulic acid and n-butanol tolerance in Lactobacillus brevis (L. brevis), a lactic acid bacteria often found in fermentation processes, by global transcriptional response analysis. The transcriptional profile of L. brevis under ferulic acid and butanol stress reveals that the presence of ferulic acid primarily triggers the expression of membrane proteins to counteract ferulic acid induced changes in membrane fluidity and ion leakage. In contrast to the ferulic acid stress response, butanol addition to growing cultures uniquely induced the entire fatty acid synthesis pathway in the midst of a generalized stress response. Overexpression of the rate-limiting acetyl-CoA carboxylase subunits (AccABCD) in E. coli to increase lipid synthesis had no effect on butanol tolerance, suggesting that additional engineering is necessary to produce sufficient levels of appropriate fatty acids to confer butanol tolerance. Several promising routes for understanding both phenolic acid and butanol tolerance have been identified based upon these findings. These insights may be used to guide further engineering of model industrial organisms to better tolerate both classes of inhibitors in processed biomass used for biofuel production.
Project description:Background: Of the many neurotransmitters in humans, gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) shows potential for improving several mental health indications such as stress and anxiety. The microbiota-gut-brain axis is an important pathway for GABAergic effects, as microbially-secreted GABA within the gut can affect host mental functionhealth outcomes. Understanding the molecular characteristics of GABA production by microbes within the gut can offer insight to novel therapies for mental health. Results: Three strains of Levilactobacillus brevis with syntenous glutamate decarboxylase (GAD) operons were evaluated for overall growth, glutamate utilization, and GABA production in typical synthetic growth media supplemented with monosodium glutamate (MSG). Levilactobacillus brevis Lbr-6108 (Lbr-6108) and Levilactobacillus brevis Lbr-35 (Lbr-35) had similar growth profiles but differed significantly in GABA secretion and acid resistance. Lbr-6108 produced GABA early, within the growth phase, and produced significantly more GABA than Lbr-35 and the type strain Levilactobacillus brevis ATCC 14689 after the stationary phase. The global gene expression during GABA production was determined by RNA sequencing at several timepoints. The GAD operon, responsible for GABA production and secretion, activated in Lbr-6108 after only six hours of fermentation and continued throughout the stationary phase. Furthermore, Lbr-6108 activated many different acid resistance mechanisms concurrently, which contribute to acid tolerance and energy production. In contrast, Lbr-35, which has a genetically similar GAD operon, including two copies of the GAD gene, showed no upregulation of the GAD operon, even when cultured with MSG. Conclusions: This study is the first to evaluate whole transcriptome changes in L. brevis during GABA production over multiple timepoints. The concurrent expression of multiple acid-resistance mechanisms reveals niche-specific metabolic functionality between common human commensals and highlights the complex regulation of GABA metabolism in this important microbial species. Furthermore, the increased and rapid GABA production of Lbr-6108 highlights the strain’s potential as a therapeutic and the overall value of screening microbes for effector molecule output.
Project description:Housekeeping sigma factors in the Sigma70 family, as components of the RNA polymerase holoenzyme, are responsible for regulating transcription of genes related to vegetative growth. While these factors are well understood in model organisms such as Escherchia coli and Bacillus subtilis, little experimental work has focused on the sigma factors in members of the Lactobacillus genus such as Lactobacillus brevis and Lactobacillus plantarum. This study evaluates the ability of putative Sigma70 proteins from L. brevis (Sigma70-Lb) and L. plantarum (Sigma70-Lp) to complement a temperature sensitive mutation in E. coli 285c Sigma70. After finding that the heterologous sigma factors were capable of restoring the viability of E. coli 285c at 42 C through growth kinetics studies, the transcriptional responses of 285c to an extended heat shock in the presence of Sigma70-Lb and Sigma70-Lp were found to be similar to previous studies. These results indicate the Sigma70-Lb and Sigma70-Lp are capable of initiating transcription in a complex with the E. coli 285c RNA polymerase to a sufficient degree to restore viability at elevated temperatures without triggering unusual modifications to the native transcriptional program. These heterologous sigma factors may therefore be useful to improve biochemical knowledge of the sigma factor family or for use in transcriptional engineering.