Project description:L-Lactic acid is a key monomer for polylactic acid (PLA), and its market demand continues to grow. Producing lactic acid from lignocellulosic feedstocks instead of grain can alleviate competition for food resources; however, inhibitors generated during pretreatment result in low fermentation titers and complex downstream processes, hindering industrial implementation. In this study, Pediococcus acidilactici NHRI04 with robust inhibitor tolerance was obtained through staged adaptive domestication, enabling direct fermentation of undetoxified corn stover hydrolysate. Process optimization achieved a final L-lactic acid concentration of 226.09 g/L, with a productivity of 3.12 g/L/h and a sugar-to-lactic acid yield of 99.72%, corresponding to an overall yield of 0.32 g/g corn stover and 98.80% optical purity. This titer represents the highest lactic acid concentration reported to date from lignocellulosic biomass. A pasteurization-based fermentation strategy (65 °C, 30 min) was established to replace conventional autoclaving, effectively preserving medium nutritional value. Economic analysis revealed that combining high-concentration fermentation, pasteurization, and detoxification elimination reduced production costs by 2,232 CNY per ton of lactic acid. Substituting corn stover for corn grain saves 1.8 tons of corn and reduces carbon emissions by 1.83 tons CO₂e per ton of lactic acid. Integrated whole-genome, transcriptomic, and proteomic analyses elucidated the molecular mechanisms underlying inhibitor tolerance. This study provides a feasible approach for low-cost, grain-saving, and low-carbon production of lignocellulosic lactic acid.
Project description:Popular rice mega varieties lack sufficient key micronutrients (e.g., Fe, Zn), vitamins and a balanced amino acid composition that are essential for a healthy diet. The major bottleneck for improving the nutritional quality of popular rice varieties through conventional breeding or gene technology is our lack of an integrated understanding of the biochemical and molecular processes that occur during rice grain filling (and their determining genes or loci). In this project, we will perform molecular expression profiling on specific tissue layers of the rice grain. To perform this experiment, the material will be developing rice seeds from plants grown hydroponically under controlled greenhouse conditions. Then, the laser microdissection approach will be applied to dissect different parts of the grain (i.e, vascular trace, aleurone, nucellar epidermis, etc). Total RNA will be extracted from these dissected parts and RNA sequencing will be performed. In this project, we will learn how the synthesis and deposition of grain nutrients is regulated, particularly, during grain filling.
Project description:The Lactobacillus buchneri CD034 strain, known to improve the ensiling process of green fodder and the quality of the silage itself was transcriptionally analyzed by sequencing of transcriptomes isolated under anaerobic vs. aerobic conditions. L. buchneri CD034 was first cultivated under anaerobic conditions and then shifted to aerobic conditions by aeration with 21% oxygen. Cultivations already showed that oxygen was consumed by L. buchneri CD034 after aeration of the culture while growth of L. buchneri CD034 was still observed. RNA sequencing data revealed that irrespective of the oxygen status of the culture, the most abundantly transcribed genes are required for basic cell functions such as protein biosynthesis, energy metabolism and lactic acid fermentation. Under aerobic conditions, 283 genes were found to be transcriptionally up-regulated while 198 genes were found to be down-regulated (p-value < 0.01). Up-regulated genes i. a. play a role in oxygen consumption via oxidation of pyruvate or lactate (pox, lctO). Additionally, genes encoding proteins required for decomposition of reactive oxygen species (ROS) such as glutathione reductase or NADH peroxidase were also found to be up-regulated. Genes related to pH homeostasis and redox potential balance were found to be down-regulated under aerobic conditions. Overall, genes required for lactic acid fermentation were hardly affected by the growth conditions applied. Genes identified to be differentially transcribed depending on the aeration status of the culture are suggested to specify the favorable performance of the strain in silage formation.
2017-02-10 | GSE67802 | GEO
Project description:Lactic acid bacteria used for fermentation
Project description:Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) belong to an economically important group of Gram-positive microorganisms, whose main characteristic is the production of lactic acid by carbohydrates fermentation. Lactobacillus paraplantarum CRL 1905 is a LAB isolated from quinoa sourdoughs with biotechnological potential as a starter or probiotic. Inorganic phosphate (Pi) is an essential nutrient for most bacteria cell functions and it is involved in many regulatory processes. The aim of the project was to evaluate the influence of environmental Pi concentration in different physiological and molecular aspects of the CRL 1905 strain. Phenotypic and proteomic data provide new insights to understand the adaptations in several metabolic pathways that CRL 1905 experiments in response to differential Pi conditions.