Engineering metabolic highways in Lactococci and other lactic acid bacteria.
Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are widely used in industrial food fermentations and are receiving increased attention for use as cell factories for the production of food and pharmaceutical products. Glycolytic conversion of sugars into lactic acid is the main metabolic highway in these Gram-positive bacteria and Lactococcus lactis has become the model organism because of its small genome, genetic accessibility and simple metabolism. Here we discuss the metabolic engineering of L. lactis and the value of metabolic models compared with other LAB, with a particular focus on the food-grade production of metabolites involved in flavour, texture and health.
de Vos
Willem M
WM
Wageningen Center for Food Sciences, P.O. Box 557, 6700 AN, Wageningen, The Netherlands. willem.devos@wur.nl
Hugenholtz
Jeroen
J
D004734:Energy Metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D000431:Ethanol / Q000378:metabolism; D005524:Food Technology / Q000379:methods*; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial / Q000502:physiology*; D005818:Genetic Engineering / Q000379:methods*; D006601:Hexoses / Q000378:metabolism*; D019344:Lactic Acid / Q000378:metabolism; D017045:Lactococcus / Q000502:physiology*; D007785:Lactose / Q000378:metabolism*; D019289:Pyruvic Acid / Q000378:metabolism*
D006601:Hexoses; D019344:Lactic Acid; D000431:Ethanol; D019289:Pyruvic Acid; D007785:Lactose