Progress in engineering acid stress resistance of lactic acid bacteria

Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are widely used for the production of a variety of fermented foods, and are considered as probiotic due to their health-promoting effect. However, LAB encounter various environmental stresses both in industrial fermentation and application, among which acid stress is one of the most important survival challenges. Improving the acid stress resistance may contribute to the application and function of probiotic action to the host. Recently, the advent of genomics, functional genomics and high-throughput technologies have allowed for the understanding of acid tolerance mechanisms at a systems level, and many method to improve acid tolerance have been developed. This review describes the current progress in engineering acid stress resistance of LAB. Special emphasis is placed on engineering cellular microenvironment (engineering amino acid metabolism, introduction of exogenous biosynthetic capacity, and overproduction of stress response proteins) and maintaining cell membrane functionality. Moreover, strategies to improve acid tolerance and the related physiological mechanisms are also discussed.