New Ways of Production of Single Cell Proteins for Future Food or Feed by Fermentation

A special issue of Fermentation (ISSN 2311-5637). This special issue belongs to the section "Microbial Metabolism, Physiology & Genetics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 1 August 2024 | Viewed by 2555

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
1. Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tianjin, China
2. Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changsha, China
Interests: nutrition metabolism and immunity; including amino acids; nucleotide and microelements with the physiological functions for the well-being of animals and people

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

With the increase in the population and worldwide protein shortage, the use of microbial biomass as food and feed is more important, driving the scientific community to search for non-conventional protein sources that can replace conventional expensive ones. Single-cell proteins (SCPs) are considered high in nutritive value, efficiency in substrate conversion, and productivity. They are derived from the fast growth rate of microorganisms and are independent of seasonal factors. SCPs are the biomass (dried cells) produced by microorganisms including yeast, bacteria, algae, and fungi. This biomass contains proteins, amino acids, vitamins, and lipid content. SCPs can be used as a vital supplement of proteins and are regarded as a quantitative approach against malnutrition. A variety of substrates are available for the production of SCPs including waste materials and industrial and agricultural by-products. However, there is a long way to go before the application of SCPs in human and animal nutrition.

The goal of this Special Issue is to provide a communication forum to advance research on the production and process of SCPs with their applications for future food and feed to achieve beneficial impacts on the worldwide protein shortage.

Scope and information for authors:

  1. Microbial strain modification for enhancing the utilization efficiency of waste materials;
  2. Advanced technologies for SCP, such as solid-state fermentation, bioreactor technologies, etc.;
  3. Advanced production processes, research, and development of SCPs, encompassing various fields of science including genetics, microbiology, biotechnology, economics, agriculture, food technology, and veterinary sciences.

Prof. Dr. Xin Wu
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Fermentation is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • single-cell proteins
  • future food and feed
  • industrial and agricultural by-products
  • straw
  • methane and methanol
  • yeast
  • filamentous fungi
  • fermentation

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

11 pages, 1939 KiB  
Article
A Novel Strategy for Further Enhancing Superior Properties of Thermophilic Endoglucanase from Acidomyces richmondensis
by Shengjie Wang, Zherui Zhang, Yi Li, Jie Yuan, Haofan Dong, Tongtong Bao, Xin Wu, Lingfang Gu, Jian Zhang and Le Gao
Fermentation 2024, 10(1), 27; https://doi.org/10.3390/fermentation10010027 - 29 Dec 2023
Viewed by 963
Abstract
Thermophilic β-1,4-endoglucanases (Cel5A) have garnered significant interest due to their potential applications in various industries, particularly in biofuel production and biorefineries. However, despite inherent stability, thermophilic Cel5A still face challenges in terms of further enhancing their catalytic efficiency and thermostability. In this study, [...] Read more.
Thermophilic β-1,4-endoglucanases (Cel5A) have garnered significant interest due to their potential applications in various industries, particularly in biofuel production and biorefineries. However, despite inherent stability, thermophilic Cel5A still face challenges in terms of further enhancing their catalytic efficiency and thermostability. In this study, a novel B-factor analysis method was used to predict beneficial amino acid substitutions within a 4 Å radius of the catalytic site in the tunnel of thermophilic Cel5A from Acidomyces richmondensis (ArCel5A). A combined strategy involving site-saturation mutagenesis and high-throughput screening was employed to identify the variants with the highest endoglucanase activity. Genomic sequencing revealed a mutation at position 299 in the starting strain T. reesei A2H, where the nucleotide sequence changed from TAC to TGC, resulting in a corresponding amino acid substitution from Tyrosine(Y) to Cystine(C). The endoglucanase activity of the mutant ArCel5A reached 3251 IU/mL, representing an 85.2% increase compared to wild-type ArCel5A at the fermentation time of 94 h. Significantly, the ArCel5A-Y299C mutant showed superior thermostability, retaining 93.8% of its initial activity after 30 min at 70 °C, and 91.5% after 10 min at 80 °C. Various computational simulation methods confirmed that the Y299C mutation enhanced the stability of the catalytic pocket, thereby improving the overall stability and catalytic efficiency of ArCel5A. This study offers an effective strategy for mining target sites for rational mutagenesis based on highly conserved sequences, which simultaneously improves both the thermostability and catalytic efficiency of thermophilic Cel5A. Full article
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11 pages, 5167 KiB  
Article
Improved Cellulase Production of Trichoderma reesei by Regulating Mycelium Morphology
by Fangting Jiang, Jiudong Tian, Jie Yuan, Shengjie Wang, Tongtong Bao, Qiuhui Chen, Le Gao, Jinyang Li and Lijuan Ma
Fermentation 2024, 10(1), 26; https://doi.org/10.3390/fermentation10010026 - 28 Dec 2023
Viewed by 1164
Abstract
The small GTPases of the Rho family are known to regulate various biological processes in filamentous fungi. In this study, we investigated the impact of deleting Rho proteins on the growth and cellulase production of Trichoderma reesei. Our findings revealed that deletion [...] Read more.
The small GTPases of the Rho family are known to regulate various biological processes in filamentous fungi. In this study, we investigated the impact of deleting Rho proteins on the growth and cellulase production of Trichoderma reesei. Our findings revealed that deletion of cdc42 led to the most severe growth defect and impaired cellulase production. Conversely, overexpression of cdc42 resulted in a hyperbranched phenotype, significantly enhancing cellulase production. Furthermore, the cdc42-overexpressing (OCdc42) strain showed an increased expression of multiple cellulase genes and Rho GTPase genes. Analysis of the secretome in the OCdc42 strain unveiled an increased abundance and diversity of extracellular proteins compared to the parent strain. These discoveries provide valuable insights into the functionality of Rho GTPases in T. reesei and offer potential targets for engineering fungi to improve plant biomass deconstruction in biorefineries. Full article
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