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:<p>The intervention effects and underlying mechanisms of Lactobacillus strains against hypercholesterolemia in mice have been extensively documented. However, fewer studies have focused on the cholesterol-lowering potential and the corresponding metabolic regulatory mechanisms of Pediococcus acidilactici. In the present study, we first characterized the in vitro probiotic properties of a novel lactic acid bacterial strain, Pediococcus acidilactici Z123 (P. acidilactici Z123), which exhibited prominent cholesterol-lowering activity. Subsequently, intragastric administration of P. acidilactici Z123 was carried out in a mouse model of high-fat diet-induced hypercholesterolemia to assess its intervention effect and elucidate the underlying molecular mechanisms. The results revealed that P. acidilactici Z123 possessed desirable probiotic characteristics such as auto-aggregation, adhesion ability, and gastrointestinal fluid tolerance, and showed good biosafety, including antibiotic susceptibility and no hemolytic activity. In vivo results demonstrated that supplementation with P. acidilactici Z123 effectively alleviated excessive body weight gain and reduced visceral fat accumulation, improved serum lipid profiles, and ameliorated the histological morphology of the liver and epididymal adipose tissue. Untargeted metabolomics indicated that P. acidilactici Z123 exerted a significant regulatory effect on lipolysis in adipocytes, PPAR and AMPK signaling pathways, primary bile acid metabolism, bile secretion, tryptophan metabolism, etc. Notably, such metabolic regulation was further verified at the transcriptional level. Quantitative reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR) analysis revealed that P. acidilactici Z123 intervention could inhibit cholesterol synthesis by downregulating the expression of Hmgcr and Srebf1, and upregulating the expression of Prkaa1. Meanwhile, it also elevated the expression of genes related to fatty acid oxidation (Cpt1a, Pparalpha) and bile acid synthesis (Cyp7a1). All these molecular changes jointly modulated systemic lipid metabolism. The present findings will provide valuable theoretical evidence for the development and application of novel functional probiotic products with lipid-regulating properties.</p>
Project description:We used a whole genome array containing 97.4 % of the annotated genes of Lactobacillus acidophilus NCFM, a probiotic culture that belongs to the lactic acid bacteria group, to identify genes that are differentially expressed under several stress conditions. Keywords: Stress response