Complete Genomic Analysis of Enterococcus faecium Heat-Resistant Strain Developed by Two-Step Adaptation Laboratory...

Area of Science:

• Microbiology
• Genomics
• Food Science

Background:

• Stress resistance is crucial for lactic acid bacteria in food production.
• High temperatures significantly impact bacterial growth, necessitating heat-resistant strains.
• Genomic analysis is vital for understanding bacterial stress resistance mechanisms.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a heat-resistant Enterococcus faecium strain using adaptive laboratory evolution.
• To identify genetic variations conferring enhanced stress resistance.
• To evaluate the multi-stress resistance and industrial applicability of the evolved strain.

Main Methods:

• Isolation and whole-genome sequencing of Enterococcus faecium BIOPOP-3.
• Application of a two-step adaptive laboratory evolution (ALE) method to induce heat resistance.
• Comparative genomic analysis to identify genetic variants and subsequent resequencing for validation.

Main Results:

• An evolved strain, BIOPOP-3 ALE, exhibited significantly enhanced heat, acid, and bile resistance.
• Comparative genomics identified one non-synonymous and four indel variants potentially responsible for heat resistance.
• The evolved strain demonstrated applicability in animal feed manufacturing processes.

Conclusions:

• The developed multi-stress resistant Enterococcus faecium strain (BIOPOP-3 ALE) is suitable for industrial applications.
• The identified genetic variants offer insights into bacterial heat resistance mechanisms for biological engineering.
• The two-step ALE method provides a valuable approach for developing robust industrial microbial strains.