Antimicrobial Peptides from Lactic Acid Bacteria: Diversity, Biosynthesis and Applications

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) have been sought to be a potential alternative to the current arsenal of antibiotics against undesirable microbes. AMPs synthesized by lactic acid bacteria have attracted significant attention due to their strong activity against a broad range of bacteria including pathogens. The bacteriocin (an AMP) has been known to us since early 1928, a year before penicillin was reported. This is possibly due to their narrower activity compared to antibiotics. However, several AMPs having promising activity have been thoroughly characterized in the past few decades. Renewed interest has developed focusing on industrially important bacteriocins produced by lactic acid bacteria. Some of these AMPs are also active against food spoilage and clinically important pathogens. Similar to antibiotics, large-scale intellectual screening is ongoing in the search for novel AMPs with unique properties. Recent research has revealed that AMPs may also play a role in maintaining gut microflora and keeping us protected from food-borne pathogens. The ongoing genomic studies suggest that there may be more such bioactive compounds waiting to be explored. This book provides an overview of the fundamental knowledge accumulated so far regarding the diversity and potential applications of AMPs produced by lactic acid bacteria. This updated reference book on AMPs from lactic acid bacteria is timely, covering the most important achievements in the field and providing the scientific community particularly graduate students, researchers, and clinicians with the latest updates. The goal of this book is to illustrate and detail the findings made so far, debate the state of the art, and draw new perspectives.

Subhasree Ray, Ph.D. Sharda University

Dr. Subhasree is currently working as an Assistant professor at Sharda University, Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India. She earned her Ph.D. degree from CSIR-IGIB, Delhi in 2018. She received the prestigious CSIR-SRF fellowship. Her main research work was focused on the production of biopolymers from waste biomass. After Ph.D., she joined as a postdoctoral researcher at Ewha University, and the University of Seoul, South Korea. Here, her main focus was anaerobic digestion of food wastes for methane production. She also studied methanogenesis at 4000L pilot-scale plant. After successful completion of 1 year, she joined another project at Yeungnam University, South Korea. During that period, she worked on several fungal toxins and their inhibition from fermented food. She also worked on biofilm inhibition of pathogenic organisms by natural bioactive compounds. To her credit, she has 24 research papers published in peer-reviewed journals, 8 book chapters and 2 books. In addition, she is a life member of various scientific societies and also a member of various committees at the Sharda University for Graduate and Undergraduate programs.

Prasun Kumar, Ph.D. MNR-Foundation for Research and Innovation

Prasun Kumar holds a Ph.D. in Biotechnology from CSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology, Delhi, India. He is presently working as an Assistant Professor, at the Department of Biotechnology, Sharda University, Greater Noida, India. Earlier, he was working as an Assistant Professor at the Department of Chemical Engineering, Yeungnam University, Republic of Korea. He has over seven years of experience in applied microbiological research including about 2 years of experience in industrial R&D. His main areas of research are bioinformatics, biopolymers, microbial biodiversity, bioenergy, microbial biofilms, quorum sensing, quorum quenching, and genomics. His present research is oriented toward valorizing lignocellulosic biowastes into value-added products such as biopolymer, 2G ethanol, bioenergy, and antibiofilm compounds. To his credit, there are over 34 articles in SCI journals, 5 books, and 11 chapters with international publishers. He has been serving the scientific society by reviewing articles for several SCI journals and delivering guest lectures. Publons awarded him the peer review award in the year 2018. He also serves as the editorial board member of a few international journals.

Manabendra Mandal, Ph.D., Tezpur University

Manabendra Mandal is a Professor at the Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Tezpur University, Napaam. Assam, India. He is actively working in the field of Microbial Biotechnology. His primary research interest is bioactive compounds for antibiofilm activity, biofuels and probiotics and nutrition. His group is actively involved in investigating natural products for antimicrobials, biodiesel and probiotic applications. In recent past, his lab has extensively investigated bioconversion of organic wastes and de-oiled algal residue into biodiesel and value added products (carotenoids) using oleaginous microbes. His lab has received several government funds to conduct research projects in the related field. He has published more than 130 articles and several book chapters. He has guided 5 Ph.D. students and worked as Dean of Student welfare.  He is also an active member of various scientific societies such as Indian Science Congress Association, and Association of Microbiologists of India. Dr. Mandal has also contributed substantially to the field as an active editor and reviewer for various SCI journals and serving the society by delivering guest lectures.