Project description:Purpose: High γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-producing Levilactobacillus brevis strain NPS-QW 145 along with Streptococcus thermophilus (one of the two starter bacteria used to make yogurt for its proteolytic activity) to enhance GABA production in milk. But a mechanistic understanding on how Levilactobacillus brevis cooperated with S. thermophilus to stimulate GABA production has been lacking. Method: Metatranscriptomic analyses combined with peptidomics were carried out to unravel the casein and lactose utilization patterns during milk fermentation with the co-culture. Results: We found particular peptides hydrolyzed by S. thermophilus 1275 were transported and biodegraded with peptidase in Lb. brevis 145 to meet the growth needs of the latter. In addition, amino acid synthesis and metabolism in Lb. brevis 145 were also activated to further support its growth. Glucose, as a result of lactose hydrolysis by S. thermophilus 1275, but not available lactose in milk, was outcompeted by Lb. brevis 145 as a main carbon source for glycolysis to produce ATP.In the stationary phase, under the acidic condition due to accumulation of lactic acid produced by S. thermophilus 1275, genes expression involved in pyridoxal phosphate (coenzyme of glutamic acid decarboxylase) metabolism and glutamic acid decarboxylase (Gad) in Lb. brevis 145 were induced for GABA production.
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 utility of RADseq in an experimental setting is also demonstrated, based on our chasacterisation of an APOBEC mutation signature in an APOBEC3A transfected mouse cell line. 0D5 cells, derived from SSM3 cells, were co-transfected with a mixture containing pcDNA3.1 vectors expressing either APOBEC3A or APOBEC3B (kindly donated by Vincent Caval), pcDNA3.1 construct expressing deaminase null APOBEC3A linked to a uracil deglycosylase construct and a plasmid encoding mutant GFP and WT mCherry that is a reporter for APOBEC mutagenesis. Cells were grown, and gDNA extracted, prior to preparation of RADseq libraries using a PstI- MspI double-digest. Libraries underwent a Pippin Prep to select fragments in the size range of 220-520 bp (genomic sequence plus 148 bp of adapters). Single-end sequencing (1x101bp) was performed on an Illumina NovaSeq6000 utilizing v1.5 chemistry. Reads were aligned to mm10 using bwa mem and variants called using the GATK4 pipeline.
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: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:Dinoflagellates possess many physiological processes that appear to be under post-transcriptional control. However, the extent to which their genes are regulated post-transcriptionally remains unresolved. To gain insight into the role of differential mRNA stability in dinoflagellates, we biosynthetically labeled RNA with 4-thiouracil to isolate newly transcribed and pre-existing RNA pools in Karenia brevis. These isolated fractions were then used for analysis of global mRNA stability by hybridization to a K. brevis microarray. Global K. brevis mRNA half-lives were calculated from the ratio of newly transcribed/pre-existing RNA for 7086 array features using the online software HALO (Half-life Organizer). Overall, mRNA half-lives were substantially longer than reported in other organisms studied at the global level, ranging from 42 minutes to greater than 3 days, with a median of 33 hours. Thirteen percent of messages showed a half-life of 3 days, demonstrating their stability throughtout the course of the cell cycle and divison. Consistent with well-documented trends observed in other organisms, housekeeping processes, including energy metabolism and transport, were significantly enriched in the most highly stable messages. Shorter-lived transcripts included a higher proportion of transcriptional regulation, stress response, and other response/regulatory processes.