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Unique Microbes Analysis Blogpost (Week of 4/5)

 I have reached the pique of scientific comebacks! I have returned from the depths of long overdue work and, finally, have caught up! Nonetheless, celebratory affairs should only go on for so long, and we have a TON to talk about!

This week your digital guide has been busy analyzing a fellow classmates' starters! I analyzed samples 55 and 57, the former of which being the control starter (just flour) and the latter holding blueberries. In the fruit sample, a unique microbe under the species name Pediococcus pentosaceus was found. Interestingly enough, this very same microbe is used in natural and additive fermentation to release flavor compounds into various food groups such as meats and dairy! Even more exciting, the fermentation of blueberries with this microbe helps to unlock the probiotic potential of the fruit... scrumptious! This was found in a study linked below (in citations!). 

Now, in the actual process of fermentation, this microbe does its best work. They perform phospholipid hydrolysis and "free fatty acid oxidation and esterification, carbon source degradation to produce organic acids, and peptide and amino acid conversion into alcohols, aldehydes, and acids" (Boyacioglu et al., 2010).

Another revelation for this microbe is it's fully sequenced genome, listed below!

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwj6iOm-re3vAhUlc98KHSE3Bo8QFjABegQIBRAD&url=https%3A%2F%2Fmra.asm.org%2Fcontent%2F9%2F12%2Fe01586-19&usg=AOvVaw0r5A2o-Mxx__wpH_d9dur0

One use for a specific gene (the CRAG3 gene) is that it helps to unlock the flavor that dairy products are most commonly associated with! You may think that this genome has nothing else to offer, but many researchers are trying to figure out ways to utilize its natural preservative properties, such as the Chinese scientists trying to preserve fresh water silver carp without utilizing salt. 

New hypothesis time!!! I hypothesize that all of the fruit samples in the Spring 2021 samples commonly used in fermentation and flavor compound releases will have this microbe within them. This is because the fruits are being fermented in the sourdough, and thus may hold this same microbe to help boost probiotic potential, as with the blueberries. Thanks, as always, for reading!


Citations:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308814620326492

https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Viability-of-lactic-acid-bacteria-in-lacto-fermented-blueberry-jam_tbl2_340162314

https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/pediococcus-pentosaceus

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwj6iOm-re3vAhUlc98KHSE3Bo8QFjABegQIBRAD&url=https%3A%2F%2Fmra.asm.org%2Fcontent%2F9%2F12%2Fe01586-19&usg=AOvVaw0r5A2o-Mxx__wpH_d9dur0

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7885583/

https://microbewiki.kenyon.edu/index.php/Pediococcus_pentosaceus


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