Integrating Genomics and Metabolomics to Identify Lactic Acid Bacteria With Broad-Spectrum Antimicrobial Activity and Validation in a Bread System.

Authors

Xuebing Zhang, Lu Liu, Dantong Liu, Meili Cui, Chang Shi, Yu Zheng, Zhenhua Su, Yanbing Shen, Min Wang

Published in

Journal of food science. Volume 91. Issue 9. Pages e71392.

Abstract

Foodborne diseases and microbial spoilage remain major threats to food safety and shelf life. This study systematically evaluated Lactiplantibacillus plantarum C-35 for antimicrobial activity, mechanisms, genomic safety, metabolite profile, and application in bread. Among 27 lactic acid bacterial strains, L. plantarum C-35 showed strong broad-spectrum inhibition against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Aspergillus niger, and Penicillium solitum, significantly outperforming L. plantarum ATCC 8014 (p < 0.05). Neutralization reduced residual activity to approximately 35%-55%, whereas protease-treated cell-free supernatant generally retained more than 60% activity, indicating that organic acids were the major antimicrobial contributors and proteinaceous substances played a secondary role. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed cell shrinkage, membrane disruption, spore collapse, and surface deformation in treated microorganisms. Whole-genome sequencing identified a 2.95 Mb genome with 2803 protein-coding genes and four predicted secondary metabolite biosynthetic gene clusters, whereas no antibiotic resistance or virulence-associated genes meeting the screening criteria were detected. LC-MS metabolomics identified 14 antimicrobial-associated compounds and 416 significantly differential metabolites between L. plantarum C-35 and L. plantarum ATCC 8014, further supporting its enhanced bioactivity. Luteolin, mangiferin, indole-3-lactic acid, glutaric acid, and naringenin were enriched in L. plantarum C-35 and may contribute synergistically to its antimicrobial effects. In bread, visible mold appeared on Days 6, 8, and 10 in the control, L. plantarum ATCC 8014, and L. plantarum C-35 groups, respectively, demonstrating its practical preservation potential. Together, these findings indicate that the strain-specific genomic and metabolomic features of L. plantarum C-35 are associated with its strong antimicrobial performance and support its potential application as a clean-label biopreservative in bread systems.

PMID:
42775524
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 23 Sep 2026.

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