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Background and Objective: Ishizuchi-kurocha is a post-fermented tea that involved two main kinds of microorganisms, namely fungi and lactic acid bacteria, which are primary and secondary fermentation, respectively. Therefore, this research aimed to confirm the role of Lactiplantibacillus plantarum during secondary fermentation of Ishizuchi-kurocha and the anti-bacterial effect due to lactic acid production and genes detection of plantaricin. Material and Methods: Antimicrobial were estimated using well diffusion method. Lactic acid was determined with spectrophotometric method. Detection of plantaricin genes were confirmed by Real-Time qPCR. The genes were sequenced through DNA Sequencing Analytical service by the Division of Genomic Research, Gifu University using the Multi-capillary DNA Sequencer ABI Prism 3100/3130 Genetic Analyzer and the data analyzed by the CLC Sequence Viewer 8.0 and BioEdit 7.2. Statistical analysis was evaluated by one-way of variance followed Tukey’s post hoc test using RStudio version 4.1.3. Results and Conclusion: L. plantarum strain IYO1511 has higher antibacterial activities than strain IYO1501. In addition, L. plantarum strain IYO1511 produced higher lactic acid than strain IYO1501 and has plantaricin genes, plnA, plnEF, plnN, plnJ and plnK. However, L. plantarum strain IYO1501 only encoded plnEF, plnN, and plnJ. The plantaricin genes from the strains IYO1501 and IYO1511 were sequenced to identify the heterologous gene clusters of each species. It was discovered that plnA, plnEF, and plnJ of L. plantarum IYO1511 showed 100% similarity homology toward GenBank. The plnN of strain IYO1511 and plnEF of IYO1501 present extra base pairs inserted into the DNA. L. plantarum strains can be used as food preservative for artificial fermentation to control the safety and quality of the product of Ishizuchi-kurocha.The lactic acid and plantaricin were expected to inhibit pathogenically and spoilage bacteria to produce a unique acidic flavor as well as fragrance to Ishizuchi‐kurocha. Conflict of interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Post-fermented tea is a beverage or food made by fermenting tea leaves with microorganisms. Four types of post-fermented tea are traditionally produced in Japan. Three of these post-fermented teas are produced by lactic acid fermentation in the Shikoku region. Post-fermented tea has physiological activities such as antioxidant, antiallergic, and fat accumulation inhibitory effects. The composition of catechins in post-fermented tea differs from that in green tea. Compared to green tea, epigallocatechin, epigallocatechin gallate, epicatechin, and epicatechin gallate are reduced, and catechin polymers are formed in the post-fermented tea. In addition, post-fermented teas contain pyrogallol, γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), and D-amino acids. The lactate fermentation of post-fermented teas on Shikoku Island involves Lactiplantibacillus plantarum and Lactiplantibacillus pentosus as the dominant species in the fermentation process. L. planratum and L. brevis isolated from Ishizuchi-kurocha, one of the post-fermented teas of Shikoku, contain amino acid racemases that produce D-amino acids. In addition, L. brevis has a high capacity for GABA production. Furthermore, L. plantarum is likely to produce bacteriocin. Lactic acid bacteria, represented by the L. plantarum group, play an essential role in the physiological activity of post-fermented tea, including lactic acid fermentation. An attempt has been made to create new post-fermented tea (brewed tea) based on traditional post-fermented tea production methods.

Obesity is now recognized as an epidemic, requiring rapid intervention. We previously demonstrated that vanilloids from the African spice known as Grains of Paradise (GOP) exhibit strong anti-obesity effects. Here, the molecular mechanism behind the obesity prevention property of the GOP extract was investigated by employing molecular networking-based lipid profiling and 16S rRNA sequencing. Administration of either GOP extract or two of its components, 6-paradol and 6-gingerol, reversed the unbalanced gut microbiota composition induced by a high-fat diet (HFD) with a decrease in Firmicutes / Bacteroidetes ratio and increase in genera Bifidobacterium and Akkermansia. Moreover, GOP extract ameliorated abnormal fatty acid metabolism in gut bacteria. Furthermore, lipid molecular networking revealed differences in lipid composition, such as triglycerides and bile acids, in the feces. These results suggest that 6-paradol and 6-gingerol can restore an unhealthy gut environment and prevent lipid absorption, a possible consequence of the reconstruction of the gut microbiota.

The photocatalytic activity of titanium dioxide is widely utilized in science and technology. In the biological field, titanium dioxide is believed to be a disinfectant because it produces reactive oxygen species (ROS). However, there are multiple types of ROS such as hydroxyl radicals, superoxide anions, singlet oxygen, and hydrogen peroxide. In this study, we attempted to characterize the various mechanisms and roles of ROS in disinfection. Surprisingly, we found that titanium dioxide protected yeast cells from ultraviolet irradiation. We characterized the ROS produced under these conditions. The production of hydroxyl radicals and superoxide anions was confirmed; however, glucose in the yeast medium scavenged hydroxyl radicals. The photocatalytic activity of titanium dioxide produced oxidative products and reductive products, as oxidation and reduction occurred simultaneously. Once hydroxyl radicals are scavenged, the photocatalytic activity of titanium dioxide produces a reductive environment for fermenting yeast cells and protects them from oxidative stress by ultraviolet irradiation.

Bioaerosols are atmospheric particles with a biological trace, such as viruses, bacteria, fungi, and plant material such as pollen and plant debris. In this study, we analyzed the biological information in bioaerosols using next generation sequencing of the trace DNA. The samples were collected using an Andersen air sampler and separated into two groups according to particulate matter (PM) size: small (PM2.5) and large (PM10). Amplification and sequencing of the bacterial 16S rDNA gene, prokaryotic internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1) region and DNA sequence of a plant chloroplast gene (rbcL) were carried out using several sets of specific primers targeting animal and plant sequences. Lots of bacterial information was detected from the bioaerosols. The most abundant bacteria in several samples were of the Actinobacteria (class), Alphaproteobacteria, Bacilli, and Clostridia. For the animal detection using internal transcribed spacer 1, only uncultured fungi were detected in more than half of the hits, with a high number of Cladosporium sp. in the samples. For the plant identification, the ITS1 information only matched fungal species. However, targeting of the rbcL region revealed diverse plant information, such as Medicago papillosa. In conclusion, traces of bacteria, fungi, and plants could be detected in the bioaerosols, but not of animals using our primers.

High-pressure carbon dioxide (HPCD), a novel non-thermal pasteurization technology, has attracted the attention of scientists due to its high pasteurization efficiency at a lower temperature and pressure. However, the inactivation mechanism has not been well researched, and this has hindered its commercial application. In this work, we used a sub-lethal HPCD condition (4.0 MPa, 30 °C) and a recovery condition (30 °C) to repair the damaged cells. Transcriptome analysis was performed by using RNA sequencing and gene ontology analysis to investigate the detailed lethal mechanism caused by HPCD treatment. RT-qPCR analysis was conducted for certain upregulated genes, and the influence of HPCD on protoplasts and single-gene deletion strains was investigated. Six major categories of upregulated genes were identified, including genes associated with the pentose phosphate pathway (oxidative phase), cell wall organization or biogenesis, glutathione metabolism, protein refolding, phosphatidylcholine biosynthesis, and AdoMet synthesis, which are all considered to be associated with cell death induced by HPCD. The inactivation or structure alteration of YNL194Cp in the organelle membrane is considered the critical reason for cell death. We believe this work contributes to elucidating the cell-death mechanism and providing a direction for further research on non-thermal HPCD sterilization technology.

Rice vinegar is a common condiment in Japan, and the submerged fermentation method is used for the industrial production of rice vinegar. Acetic acid bacteria are known to have a significant influence on fermentation characteristics during vinegar brewing, and clarification of the types of microorganisms and their roles in acetic acid fermentation in submerged fermentation rice vinegar production may be useful for optimization of the fermentation process. In this study, we investigated the changes in the microbiome in submerged fermented rice vinegar for the entire fermentation process, which has not been investigated before. The investigation of the bacterial community showed that the percentage of acetic acid bacteria of the genus Komagataeibacter increased rapidly when the ethanol concentration started to decrease, then maintained a high percentage of dominance in both rice vinegars with different acidity levels. Metagenomic analysis results for the starter culture suggested that the acetic acid bacteria that ferment in submerged fermented rice vinegar is Komagataeibacter europaeus, which is resistant to high acetic acid concentration, and that this strain is closely related to the strain isolated from submerged fermented vinegar produced in Europe. This study provides basic information on the microorganisms in submerged fermentation of rice vinegar and may be useful for optimizing the fermentation process in rice vinegar brewing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From traditional Gifu ayu-narezushi, Leuconostoc, Latilactobacillus, and Enterococcus were isolated as dominant genera. Isolated strains of Leuconostoc mesenteroides showed high growth inhibition activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. The isolated strain, Enterococcus lactis EC52, could produce 1-aminobutyric acid (GABA). These results indicated that Enterococcus lactis and Leuconostoc mesenteroides were lactic acid bacteria, which have GABA-producing and antimicrobial activities, respectively, in traditional Gifu ayu-narezushi. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ishizuchi-kurocha is a popular postfermented tea in Japan. It is performed by domestic and natural fermentation relied on microorganisms derived from tea leaves or the environment of the manufacturing. Ishizuchi-kurocha undergoes aerobic fermentation of fungi first, then second fermented by anaerobic fermentation of lactic acid bacteria during natural fermentation processing. Aspergillus niger that produces mycotoxin is included in natural fermentation. This research aimed to build a novel fermentation method of Ishizuchi-kurocha by adding industrial koji fungi products and laboratory-cultivated Lactobacillus plantarum (Lactiplantibacillus plantarum) artificially. Thus, safety and quality of tea products could be controlled simply. We found artificial fermentation of Ishizuchi-kurocha could get high lactic acid production within 8 days. Final products only consisted of genus Aspergillus and genus Lactobacillus, while harmful Aspergillus niger was not found. However, artificial fermentation methods also decreased the content of polyphenols when compared with commercial tea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]