Academic literature on the topic 'Overflow metabolism and mixed acid fermentation'

ABSTRACTAcetic acid bacteria (AAB) play an important role during cocoa fermentation, as their main product, acetate, is a major driver for the development of the desired cocoa flavors. Here, we investigated the specialized metabolism of these bacteria under cocoa pulp fermentation-simulating conditions. A carefully designed combination of parallel13C isotope labeling experiments allowed the elucidation of intracellular fluxes in the complex environment of cocoa pulp, when lactate and ethanol were included as primary substrates among undefined ingredients. We demonstrate that AAB exhibit a functionally separated metabolism during coconsumption of two-carbon and three-carbon substrates. Acetate is almost exclusively derived from ethanol, while lactate serves for the formation of acetoin and biomass building blocks. Although this is suboptimal for cellular energetics, this allows maximized growth and conversion rates. The functional separation results from a lack of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase and malic enzymes, typically present in bacteria to interconnect metabolism. In fact, gluconeogenesis is driven by pyruvate phosphate dikinase. Consequently, a balanced ratio of lactate and ethanol is important for the optimum performance of AAB. As lactate and ethanol are individually supplied by lactic acid bacteria and yeasts during the initial phase of cocoa fermentation, respectively, this underlines the importance of a well-balanced microbial consortium for a successful fermentation process. Indeed, AAB performed the best and produced the largest amounts of acetate in mixed culture experiments when lactic acid bacteria and yeasts were both present.

The bioavailability of minerals, such as zinc and magnesium, has a significant impact on the fermentation process. These metal ions are known to influence the growth and metabolic activity of yeast, but there are few reports on their effects on lactic acid bacteria (LAB) metabolism during sour brewing. This study aimed to evaluate the influence of magnesium and zinc ions on the metabolism of Lactobacillus brevis WLP672 during the fermentation of brewers’ wort. We carried out lactic acid fermentations using wort with different mineral compositions: without supplementation; supplemented with magnesium at 60 mg/L and 120 mg/L; and supplemented with zinc at 0.4 mg/L and 2 mg/L. The concentration of organic acids, pH of the wort and carbohydrate use was determined during fermentation, while aroma compounds, real extract and ethanol were measured after the mixed fermentation. The addition of magnesium ions resulted in the pH of the fermenting wort decreasing more quickly, an increase in the level of L-lactic acid (after 48 h of fermentation) and increased concentrations of some volatile compounds. While zinc supplementation had a negative impact on the L. brevis strain, resulting in a decrease in the L-lactic acid content and a higher pH in the beer. We conclude that zinc supplementation is not recommended in sour beer production using L. brevis WLP672.

ABSTRACT Knowledge of the in vivo physiology and metabolism of Streptococcus pneumoniae is limited, even though pneumococci rely on efficient acquisition and metabolism of the host nutrients for growth and survival. Because the nutrient-limited, hypoxic host tissues favor mixed-acid fermentation, we studied the role of the pneumococcal pyruvate formate lyase (PFL), a key enzyme in mixed-acid fermentation, which is activated posttranslationally by PFL-activating enzyme (PFL-AE). Mutations were introduced to two putative pfl genes, SPD0235 and SPD0420, and two putative pfl A genes, SPD0229 and SPD1774. End-product analysis showed that there was no formate, the main end product of the reaction catalyzed by PFL, produced by mutants defective in SPD0420 and SPD1774, indicating that SPD0420 codes for PFL and SPD1774 for putative PFL-AE. Expression of SPD0420 was elevated in galactose-containing medium in anaerobiosis compared to growth in glucose, and the mutation of SPD0420 resulted in the upregulation of fba and pyk, encoding, respectively, fructose 1,6-bisphosphate aldolase and pyruvate kinase, under the same conditions. In addition, an altered fatty acid composition was detected in SPD0420 and SPD1774 mutants. Mice infected intranasally with the SPD0420 and SPD1774 mutants survived significantly longer than the wild type-infected cohort, and bacteremia developed later in the mutant cohort than in the wild type-infected group. Furthermore, the numbers of CFU of the SPD0420 mutant were lower in the nasopharynx and the lungs after intranasal infection, and fewer numbers of mutant CFU than of wild-type CFU were recovered from blood specimens after intravenous infection. The results demonstrate that there is a direct link between pneumococcal fermentative metabolism and virulence.

ABSTRACT Many food fermentations are performed using mixed cultures of lactic acid bacteria. Interactions between strains are of key importance for the performance of these fermentations. Yogurt fermentation by Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus bulgaricus (basonym, Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus) is one of the best-described mixed-culture fermentations. These species are believed to stimulate each other's growth by the exchange of metabolites such as folic acid and carbon dioxide. Recently, postgenomic studies revealed that an upregulation of biosynthesis pathways for nucleotides and sulfur-containing amino acids is part of the global physiological response to mixed-culture growth in S. thermophilus, but an in-depth molecular analysis of mixed-culture growth of both strains remains to be established. We report here the application of mixed-culture transcriptome profiling and a systematic analysis of the effect of interaction-related compounds on growth, which allowed us to unravel the molecular responses associated with batch mixed-culture growth in milk of S. thermophilus CNRZ1066 and L. bulgaricus ATCC BAA-365. The results indicate that interactions between these bacteria are primarily related to purine, amino acid, and long-chain fatty acid metabolism. The results support a model in which formic acid, folic acid, and fatty acids are provided by S. thermophilus. Proteolysis by L. bulgaricus supplies both strains with amino acids but is insufficient to meet the biosynthetic demands for sulfur and branched-chain amino acids, as becomes clear from the upregulation of genes associated with these amino acids in mixed culture. Moreover, genes involved in iron uptake in S. thermophilus are affected by mixed-culture growth, and genes coding for exopolysaccharide production were upregulated in both organisms in mixed culture compared to monocultures. The confirmation of previously identified responses in S. thermophilus using a different strain combination demonstrates their generic value. In addition, the postgenomic analysis of the responses of L. bulgaricus to mixed-culture growth allows a deeper understanding of the ecology and interactions of this important industrial food fermentation process.