Synthetic microbial community converts corn stover hydrolysate into high-purity L-lactic acid in the presence of fermentation inhibitors.

Authors

Yifei Wang, Zhi Wang, Yue Zhang, Zhengzhong Xu, Yafan Cai, Wei Zhuang, Dong Liu, Anqi Zhao, Yongkun Lv, Shilei Wang, Wenwei Li, Chenjie Zhu, Jingliang Xu, Hanjie Ying

Published in

Journal of biotechnology. Oct 08, 2026. Epub Oct 08, 2026.

Abstract

Lignocellulosic hydrolysates contain inhibitors that hinder lactic acid (LA) production. This study evaluated a synthetic microbial community (SMC) of five lactic acid bacteria for fermenting undetoxified corn stover hydrolysate. Metatranscriptome analysis revealed links between fermentation performance and inhibitor effects. Although LA yield decreased by 5.79% versus the control, SMC achieved 94.47% mixed sugar utilization and produced L-LA with 99.70% optical purity. Transcriptomic data suggest that hydrolysate inhibitors may suppress glycolysis and the pentose phosphate pathway, which may contribute to a shift in carbon flux to the TCA cycle. Upregulation of malolactic enzyme (mleA) and downregulation of D-lactate dehydrogenase/hydroxyacylglutathione hydrolase (ldhA/gloB) correlated with enhanced L-LA purity. Syringaldehyde showed the strongest inhibition among tested compounds. These findings demonstrate an effective SMC-based strategy for producing high-purity L-LA from undetoxified hydrolysates, advancing biomass utilization.

PMID:
42849752
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 09 Oct 2026.

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