Comparative genomics of Lactobacillus sakei supports the development of starter strain combinations.

Strains of Lactobacillus sakei can be isolated from a variety of sources including meat, fermented sausages, sake, sourdough, sauerkraut or kimchi. Selected strains are widely used as starter cultures for sausage fermentation. Recently we have demonstrated that control about the lactic microbiota in fermenting sausages is achieved rather by pairs or strain sets than by single strains.

Lifestyle of Lactobacillus hordei isolated from water kefir based on genomic, proteomic and physiological characterization.

Water kefir is a traditional fermented beverage made from sucrose, water, kefir granules, dried or fresh fruits. In our water kefir granules, Lactobacillus (L.) hordei is one of the predominant lactic acid bacteria (LAB) species of this presumed symbiotic consortium.

Comparative genomics of Lactobacillus curvatus enables prediction of traits relating to adaptation and strategies of assertiveness in sausage fermentation.

Lactobacillus (L.) curvatus reaches high numbers in a variety of habitats, which suggests a high (genomic) diversity within this species. Empirically selected strains are used as starter cultures in sausage fermentation.

Assertiveness of Lactobacillus sakei and Lactobacillus curvatus in a fermented sausage model.

Fresh meat harbors autochthonous microbiota with unknown risk potential, which is introduced in raw fermented sausages. Their growth can be limited by the use of safe, competitive starter strains. In the lack of time and cost-effective methods to track those starters at strain level, their assertiveness upon meat fermentation is widely unknown.

Tn7-Based Device for Calibrated Heterologous Gene Expression in Pseudomonas putida.

The soil bacterium Pseudomonas putida is increasingly attracting considerable interest as a platform for advanced metabolic engineering through synthetic biology approaches. However, genomic context, gene copy number, and transcription/translation interplay often introduce considerable uncertainty to the design of reliable genetic constructs. In this work, we have established a standardized heterologous expression device in which the promoter strength is the only variable; the remaining parameters of the flow have stable default values.