Enhanced production of optically pure d (-) lactic acid from nutritionally rich Borassus flabellifer sugar and whey protein hydrolysate based-fermentation medium

Biological characterization of D-lactate dehydrogenase responsible for high-yield production of D-phenyllactic acid in Sporolactobacillus inulinus

PLA (3‐D‐phenyllactic acid) is an ideal antimicrobial and immune regulatory compound present in honey and fermented foods. Sporolactobacillus inulinus is regarded as a potent D‐PLA producer that reduces phenylpyruvate (PPA) with D‐lactate dehydrogenases. In this study, PLA was produced by whole‐cell bioconversion of S. inulinus ATCC 15538. Three genes encoding D‐lactate dehydrogenase (d‐ldh1, d‐ldh2, and d‐ldh3) were cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3), and their biochemical and structural properties were characterized. Consequently, a high concentration of pure D‐PLA (47 mM) was produced with a high conversion yield of 88%. Among the three enzymes, D‐LDH1 was responsible for the efficient conversion of PPA to PLA with kinetic parameters of Km (0.36 mM), k_cat (481.10 s⁻¹), and k_cat/Km (1336.39 mM⁻¹ s⁻¹). In silico structural analysis and site‐directed mutagenesis revealed that the Ile307 in D‐LDH1 is a key residue for excellent PPA reduction with low steric hindrance at the substrate entrance. This study highlights that S. inulinus ATCC 15538 is an excellent PLA producer, equipped with a highly specific and efficient D‐LDH1 enzyme.

Microbial cell factories for the production of three-carbon backbone organic acids from agro-industrial wastes

At present, mass production of basic and valuable commodities is dependent on linear petroleum-based industries, which ultimately makes the depletion of finite natural reserves and accumulation of non-biodegradable and hazardous wastes. Therefore, an ecofriendly and sustainable solution should be established for a circular economy where infinite resources, such as agro-industrial wastes, are fully utilized as substrates in the production of target value-added chemicals. Hereby, recent advances in metabolic engineering strategies and techniques used in the development of microbial cell factories for enhanced production of three-carbon platform chemicals such as lactic acid, propionic acid, and 3-hydroxypropionic acid are discussed. Further developments and future perspectives in the production of these organic acids from agro-industrial wastes from the dairy, sugar, and biodiesel industries are also highlighted to demonstrate the importance of waste-based biorefineries for organic acid production.

L-Lactate oxidase-mediated removal of L-lactic acid derived from fermentation medium for the production of optically pure D-lactic acid

BACKGROUND

There has been an increasing demand for optically pure D-lactic and L-lactic acid for the production of stereocomplex-type polylactic acid. The D-lactic acid production from lignocellulosic biomass is important owing to its great abundance in nature. Corn steep liquor (CSL) is a cheap nitrogen source used for industrial fermentation, though it contains a significant amount of L-lactic acid, which decreases the optical purity of D-lactic acid produced.

METHOD AND RESULTS

To remove L-lactic acid derived from the CSL-based medium, L-lactate oxidase (LoxL) from Enterococcus sp. NBRC 3427 was expressed in an engineered Lactiplantibacillus plantarum (formally called Lactobacillus plantarum) strain KOLP7, which exclusively produces D-lactic acid from both hexose and pentose sugars. When the resulting strain was applied for D-lactic acid fermentation from the mixed sugars consisting of the major constituent sugars of lignocellulose (35 g/L glucose, 10 g/L xylose, and 5 g/L arabinose) using the medium containing 10 g/L CSL, it completely removed L-lactic acid derived from CSL (0.52 g/L) and produced 41.7 g/L of D-lactic acid. The L-lactic acid concentration was below the detection limit, and improvement in the optical purity of D-lactic acid was observed (from 98.2% to > 99.99%) by the overexpression of LoxL.

CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS

The LoxL-mediated consumption of L-lactic acid would enable the production of optically pure D-lactic acid in any medium contaminated by L-lactic acid. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Polydiacetylene vesicles acting as colorimetric sensor for the detection of plantaricin LD1

The interaction of antimicrobial peptides with membrane lipids plays a major role in numerous physiological processes. In this study, polydiacetylene (PDA) vesicles were synthesized using 10, 12-tricosadiynoic acid (TRCDA) and 1, 2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DMPC). These vesicles were applied as artificial membrane biosensor for the detection of plantaricin LD1 purified from Lactobacillus plantarum LD1. Plantaricin LD1 (200 μg/mL) was able to interact with PDA vesicles by changing the color from blue to red with colorimetric response 30.26 ± 0.59. Nisin (200 μg/mL), used as control, also changed the color of the vesicles with CR% 50.56 ± 0.98 validating the assay. The vesicles treated with nisin and plantaricin LD1 showed increased infrared absorbance at 1411.46 and 1000-1150 cm^-1 indicated the interaction of bacteriocins with phospholipids and fatty acids, respectively suggesting membrane-acting nature of these bacteriocins. Further, microscopic observation of bacteriocin-treated vesicles showed several damages indicating the interaction of bacteriocins. These findings suggest that the PDA vesicles may be used as bio-mimetic sensor for the detection of bacteriocins produced by several probiotics in food and therapeutic applications.

Effect of nitrogen sources and neutralizing agents on D-lactic acid production from Kodo millet bran hydrolysate: comparative study and kinetic analysis

D-lactic acid (DLA) serves as a key monomer enhancing both the mechanical and thermal properties of Poly(lactic) acid films and coatings, extensively used in the food packaging industry. Economically viable production of optically pure DLA by Lactobacillus delbrueckii NBRC3202 was achieved using a low-cost carbon source, Kodo millet bran residue hydrolysate (KMBRH) and nitrogen source (casein enzyme hydrolysate (CEH) resulting in a high DLA yield of 0.99 g g-1 and KMBRH conversion to final product (95.3%). The optimum values for kinetic parameters viz., specific growth rate (0.11 h-1), yield coefficient of biomass on KMBRH (0.10 g g-1) and DLA productivity (0.45 g L-1 h-1) were achieved at 5 g L-1 of CEH dosage under controlled pH environment. A comparative study and kinetic analysis of different neutralizing agents (NaOH, NH3, CaCO3 and NaHCO3) under pH controlled environment for KMBRH based DLA production was addressed effectively through bioreactor scale experiments. Maximum cell concentration (1.29 g L-1) and DLA titer (45.08 g L-1) were observed with NH3 as a neutralizing agent. Kinetic analysis of DLA production under different neutralization agents demonstrated that the logistic derived model predicted biomass growth, KMBRH consumption and DLA production efficiently (R 2 > 0.92).

D-Lactic acid fermentation performance and the enzyme activity of a novel bacterium Terrilactibacillus laevilacticus SK5–6

Purpose

The aim of this study was to prove that Terrilactibacillus laevilacticus SK5-6, a novel D-lactate producer, exhibited a good fermentation performance comparing to the reference D-lactate producer Sporolactobacillus sp.

Methods

Glucose bioconversion for D-lactate production and the activity of five key enzymes including phosphofructokinase (PFK), pyruvate kinase (PYK), D-lactate dehydrogenase (D-LDH), L-lactate dehydrogenase (L-LDH), and lactate isomerase (LI) were investigated in the cultivation of T. laevilacticus SK5–6 and S. laevolacticus 0361T.

Results

T. laevilacticus SK5–6 produced D-lactate at higher yield, productivity, and optical purity compared with S. laevolacticus 0361T. T. laevilacticus SK5–6, the catalase-positive isolate, simultaneously grew and produced D-lactate without lag phase while delayed growth and D-lactate production were observed in the culture of S. laevolacticus 0361T. The higher production of D-lactate in T. laevilacticus SK5–6 was due to the higher growth rate and the higher specific activities of the key enzymes observed at the early stage of the fermentation. The low isomerization activity was responsible for the high optical purity of D-lactate in the cultivation of T. laevilacticus SK5–6.

Conclusion

The lowest specific activity of PFK following by PYK and D/L-LDHs, respectively, indicated that the conversion of fructose-6-phosphate was the rate limiting step. Under the well-optimized conditions, the activation of D/L-LDHs by fructose-1,6-phosphate and ATP regeneration by PYK drove glucose bioconversion toward D-lactate. The optical purity of D-lactate was controlled by D/L-LDHs and the activation of isomerases. High D-LDH with limited isomerase activity was preferable during the fermentation as it assured the high optical purity.

Impact of Hydrolysis Methods on the Utilization of Agricultural Residues as Nutrient Source for D-lactic Acid Production by Sporolactobacillus inulinus

d-lactic acid is a building block for heat resistant polylactic acid, a biobased polymer with a high potential. Nevertheless, an economically efficient industrial process for d-lactic acid production still needs to be implemented. Yeast extract is an expensive nutrient source, which is used to fulfill the complex nutritional requirements in lactic acid fermentations. The substitution of yeast extract by cheap alternative nutrient sources is a challenge in many fermentation processes. In this study, chemical and enzymatic hydrolysis techniques for protein rich agricultural residues and their effectiveness are compared, as well as their impact on the d-lactic acid production of Sporolactobacillus inulinus. An efficient substitution of yeast extract could be achieved by a variety of agricultural residues, hydrolysed with 3M H2SO4, demonstrating the much higher versatility and effectiveness of this method compared to enzymatic methods. In a fed-batch experiment with chemically hydrolyzed rapeseed meal and minimal supplementation, a lactic acid titer of 221 g L−1 and an overall productivity of 1.55 g (L h)−1 (96% yield) were obtained.

Recent Advances in d-Lactic Acid Production from Renewable Resources: Case Studies on Agro-Industrial Waste Streams

The production of biodegradable polymers as alternatives to petroleum-based plastics has gained significant attention in the past years. To this end, polylactic acid (PLA) constitutes a promising alternative, finding various applications from food packaging to pharmaceuticals. Recent studies have shown that d-lactic acid plays a vital role in the production of heat-resistant PLA. At the same time, the utilization of renewable resources is imperative in order to decrease the production cost. This review aims to provide a synopsis of the current state of the art regarding d-lactic acid production via fermentation, focusing on the exploitation of waste and byproduct streams. An overview of potential downstream separation schemes is also given. Additionally, three case studies are presented and discussed, reporting the obtained results utilizing acid whey, coffee mucilage and hydrolysate from rice husks as alternative feedstocks for d-lactic acid production.