Abrogating the adenine methylation ability of Lacticaseibacillus paracasei improves its freeze-drying and storage resistance

Abstract Freeze-drying is a widely adopted method for the long-term storage of starter cultures in the food industry but can cause cell instability and a decline in post-storage viability. We used an unmethylated Lacticaseibacillus paracasei Zhang mutant lacking adenine-specific DNA-methyltransferas...

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Main Authors: Hui Qiao, Mingkun You, Jiaming Yan, Meng Zhang, Kwok Lai-Yu, Wenyi Zhang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2025-05-01
Series:npj Science of Food
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41538-025-00409-8
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author Hui Qiao
Mingkun You
Jiaming Yan
Meng Zhang
Kwok Lai-Yu
Wenyi Zhang
author_facet Hui Qiao
Mingkun You
Jiaming Yan
Meng Zhang
Kwok Lai-Yu
Wenyi Zhang
author_sort Hui Qiao
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Freeze-drying is a widely adopted method for the long-term storage of starter cultures in the food industry but can cause cell instability and a decline in post-storage viability. We used an unmethylated Lacticaseibacillus paracasei Zhang mutant lacking adenine-specific DNA-methyltransferase. This mutant was subjected to freeze-drying and stored at 30 °C for two distinct durations (30 and 60 days), Our analysis revealed the unmethylated mutant outperformed the wild-type in cell viability and survival following freeze-drying and post-freeze-drying storage. And significant metabolic pathway differences between the stored mutant and wild-type bacteria. These differences were evident in the phosphotransferase system, carbohydrate, and amino acid metabolism, and fatty acid biosynthesis, and were consistent across transcriptomic, proteomic, and metabolomic analyses. This is achieved by modulating key metabolic pathways within the bacteria. This study contributes to the limited literature on the role of bacterial adenine methylation in industrial strain application and starter culture storage.
format Article
id doaj-art-ce4d3cc3f99c406092e309b121637030
institution OA Journals
issn 2396-8370
language English
publishDate 2025-05-01
publisher Nature Portfolio
record_format Article
series npj Science of Food
spelling doaj-art-ce4d3cc3f99c406092e309b1216370302025-08-20T02:34:04ZengNature Portfolionpj Science of Food2396-83702025-05-019111410.1038/s41538-025-00409-8Abrogating the adenine methylation ability of Lacticaseibacillus paracasei improves its freeze-drying and storage resistanceHui Qiao0Mingkun You1Jiaming Yan2Meng Zhang3Kwok Lai-Yu4Wenyi Zhang5Key Laboratory of Dairy Biotechnology and Engineering, Ministry of Education, Inner Mongolia Agricultural UniversityKey Laboratory of Dairy Biotechnology and Engineering, Ministry of Education, Inner Mongolia Agricultural UniversityKey Laboratory of Dairy Biotechnology and Engineering, Ministry of Education, Inner Mongolia Agricultural UniversityKey Laboratory of Dairy Biotechnology and Engineering, Ministry of Education, Inner Mongolia Agricultural UniversityKey Laboratory of Dairy Biotechnology and Engineering, Ministry of Education, Inner Mongolia Agricultural UniversityKey Laboratory of Dairy Biotechnology and Engineering, Ministry of Education, Inner Mongolia Agricultural UniversityAbstract Freeze-drying is a widely adopted method for the long-term storage of starter cultures in the food industry but can cause cell instability and a decline in post-storage viability. We used an unmethylated Lacticaseibacillus paracasei Zhang mutant lacking adenine-specific DNA-methyltransferase. This mutant was subjected to freeze-drying and stored at 30 °C for two distinct durations (30 and 60 days), Our analysis revealed the unmethylated mutant outperformed the wild-type in cell viability and survival following freeze-drying and post-freeze-drying storage. And significant metabolic pathway differences between the stored mutant and wild-type bacteria. These differences were evident in the phosphotransferase system, carbohydrate, and amino acid metabolism, and fatty acid biosynthesis, and were consistent across transcriptomic, proteomic, and metabolomic analyses. This is achieved by modulating key metabolic pathways within the bacteria. This study contributes to the limited literature on the role of bacterial adenine methylation in industrial strain application and starter culture storage.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41538-025-00409-8
spellingShingle Hui Qiao
Mingkun You
Jiaming Yan
Meng Zhang
Kwok Lai-Yu
Wenyi Zhang
Abrogating the adenine methylation ability of Lacticaseibacillus paracasei improves its freeze-drying and storage resistance
npj Science of Food
title Abrogating the adenine methylation ability of Lacticaseibacillus paracasei improves its freeze-drying and storage resistance
title_full Abrogating the adenine methylation ability of Lacticaseibacillus paracasei improves its freeze-drying and storage resistance
title_fullStr Abrogating the adenine methylation ability of Lacticaseibacillus paracasei improves its freeze-drying and storage resistance
title_full_unstemmed Abrogating the adenine methylation ability of Lacticaseibacillus paracasei improves its freeze-drying and storage resistance
title_short Abrogating the adenine methylation ability of Lacticaseibacillus paracasei improves its freeze-drying and storage resistance
title_sort abrogating the adenine methylation ability of lacticaseibacillus paracasei improves its freeze drying and storage resistance
url https://doi.org/10.1038/s41538-025-00409-8
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