The increase of O-acetylation and N-deacetylation in cell wall promotes acid resistance and nisin production through improving cell wall integrity in Lactococcus lactis

• DOI: 10.1007/s10295-018-2052-2
• Publication Date: 2018-06-06T12:15:31Z
• Authors: Lijie Cao; Dongmei Liang; Panlong Hao; Qianqian Song; Ershu Xue; Qinggele Caiyin; Zihao Cheng; Jianjun Qiao
• Keywords: 0301 basic medicine; 0303 health sciences; Acetylation; Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; 12. Responsible consumption; Lactococcus lactis; 03 medical and health sciences; Bacterial Proteins; Cell Wall; Genes, Bacterial; 13. Climate action; Fermentation; Muramidase; Microorganisms, Genetically-Modified; Acids; Nisin

Abstract Cell wall is closely related to bacterial robustness and adsorption capacity, playing crucial roles in nisin production in Lactococcus lactis. Peptidoglycan (PG), the essential component of cell wall, is usually modified with MurNAc O-acetylation and GlcNAc N-deacetylation, catalyzed by YvhB and XynD, respectively. In this study, increasing the two modifications in L. lactis F44 improved autolysis resistance by decreasing the susceptibility to PG hydrolases. Furthermore, both modifications were positively associated with overall cross-linkage, contributing to cell wall integrity. The robust cell wall rendered the yvhB/xynD-overexpression strains more acid resistant, leading to the increase of nisin production in fed-batch fermentations by 63.7 and 62.9%, respectively. Importantly, the structural alterations also reduced nisin adsorption capacity, resulting in reduction of nisin loss. More strikingly, the co-overexpression strain displayed the highest nisin production (76.3% higher than F44). Our work provides a novel approach for achieving nisin overproduction via extensive cell wall remodeling.