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Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are the most important group of microorganisms for the dairy, since they actively participate in milk bio-transformation and they contribute to the development of the organoleptic characteristics of fermented products.
During the past decade there was a rapid increase in the number of LAB genomes that were sequenced, since this approach can provide a detailed overview of the biology and the technological potential of LAB.
Thus, the aim of this project is to characterize the genomes of four LAB strains from the ACA-DC collection.
In details:
- the characterization of Streptococcus macedonicus genome will contribute to the evaluation of the non-pathogenic nature of the species and its status for safe use in foods,
- the genome of an additional Streptococcus thermophilus strain, along with the existing ones, will assist a deeper understanding of the degenerative evolutionary process that took place during its adaptation to milk,
- comparative analysis of the genome of Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. lactis with the existing genomes of Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus will provide the genetic basis for their taxonomic discrimination as two different milk-related subspecies and d. genomic analysis of Lactobacillus acidipiscis will test the potential of this approach for unraveling the lifestyle and technological properties of LAB strains not studied in the past.
The project will be completed in four phases:
- de novo sequencing of the genomes with pyrosequencing,
- characterization of genomes including annotation, comparative and evolutionary analysis,
- in silico metabolic map reconstruction and
- experimental production of dairies to explore technological properties that can be directly inferred from genetic information.
The present study will allow the clarification of fundamental questions for LAB genomics and will offer a wealth of information on the technological potential of the strains under investigation.
