Clonostachys rosea is a promising saprophytic filamentous fungus that belongs to phylum Ascomycota. Clonostachys rosea is widespread around the world and exists in many kinds of habitats, with the highest frequency in soil. As an excellent mycoparasite, C. rosea exhibits strong biological control ability against numerous fungal plant pathogens, nematodes and insects. These behaviours are based on the activation of multiple mechanisms such as secreted cell‐wall‐degrading enzymes, production of antifungal secondary metabolites and induction of plant defence systems. Besides having significant biocontrol activity, C. rosea also functions in the biodegradation of plastic waste, biotransformation of bioactive compounds, as a bioenergy sources and in fermentation. This mini review summarizes information about the biology and various applications of C. rosea and expands on its possible uses.

Chinese rice wine (CRW) is the oldest kind of wine in China and is mainly fermented by wheat Qu and yeast with rice, millet, etc. This gives CRW a unique quality, but the flavor components are complex. Its formation is related to microorganisms, but the link between CRW and microorganisms is poorly understood. Here, we used two kinds of sorghum (JZ22 and JB3, of which JZ22 has a higher tannin content) as the raw materials to brew and determined the structural and functional dynamics of the microbiota by metagenomics and flavor analyses. We detected 106 (JZ22) and 109 (JB3) volatile flavor compounds and 8 organic acids. By correlation analysis, we established 687 (JZ22) and 496 (JB3) correlations between the major flavor compounds and microbes. In JZ22, Blautia, Collinsella, Bifidobacterium, Faecalibacterium and Prevotella had the most correlations with flavor production. In JB3, the top 5 genera were Stenotrophomonas, Bdellovibrio, Solibacillus, Sulfuritalea and Achromobacter. In addition, more esters were detected, and more microorganisms correlated with ester generation in JZ22. This study provides a new idea for the micro ecological diversity of CRW fermented with sorghum. This is of significance for improving the quality and broadening the CRW varieties.

The viable but nonculturable (VBNC) state is a survival strategy for bacteria when encountered with unfavorable conditions. Under favorable environments such as nutrient supplementation, external stress elimination, or supplementation with resuscitation-promoting substances, bacteria will recover from the VBNC state, which is termed “resuscitation”. The resuscitation phenomenon is necessary for proof of VBNC existence, which has been confirmed in different ways to exclude the possibility of culturable-cell regrowth. The resuscitation of VBNC cells has been widely studied for the purpose of risk control of recovered pathogenic or spoilage bacteria. From another aspect, the resuscitation of functional bacteria can also be considered a promising field to explore. To support this point, the resuscitation mechanisms were comprehensively reviewed, which could provide the theoretical foundations for the application of resuscitated VBNC cells. In addition, the proposed applications, as well as the prospects for further applications of resuscitated VBNC bacteria in the food industry are discussed in this review.

The Baijiu-making microbiota has an important role in the alcohol production, flavor, and character of Baijiu. 16S rRNA gene sequencing revolutionized the understanding of Baijiu-making microbiota. In this study, nine phyla, 23 classes, 49 orders, 99 families, and 201 genera were detected in pit muds (PMs) by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes predominated (>99%). At the order level, Clostridiales, Bacteroidales, and Bacillales predominated (>92%). At the genus level, Hydrogenispora, Petrimonas, Proteiniphilum, and Sedimentibacter predominated. The pure culture of Baijiu-making prokaryotes was essential to elucidating the role of these microbes in the fermentation of Baijiu. According to the theory of microbial culturomics, a culturing approach with multiple culture conditions was adopted, combining 16S rRNA gene sequencing. We identified 215 prokaryotic strains, which were assigned to 66 species, 41 genera, four phyla, and 19 potential new species. Gas conditions were key factors in culturomics. In addition, culturomics significantly increased the number of species isolated from the fermentation PM compared with previous reports. With culturomics, the diversity spectrum of culturable bacteria in the PM was increased 273.33% at the genus level. This study confirms the complementary role of culturomics in the exploration of complex microbiota.

Huangjiu is a national alcoholic beverage in China. Millet has congenital advantages in development and utilization of nutrient. Brewing Huangjiu with millet can increase the value of millet. Microbial community plays crucial roles in millet Huangjiu fermentation. Flavor compounds reflect the quality and health function of Huangjiu. The flavor compounds of Huangjiu are complex and their formation is closely associated with microorganisms, but the relationship between them during fermentation has been unknown. In this research, this relationship during millet Huangjiu fermentation were deeply investigated. Totally 86 volatile compounds were detected. Bacillus, Weissella, Paenibacillus, Klebsiella, Prevotella was investigated as the dominant microbes through high-throughput sequencing. 537 correlations between major flavor compounds and microbes were established to reflect the dynamic change during millet Huangjiu fermentation. The top five dominant genus of flavor producing microbes were Chryseobacterium, Sporolactobacillus, Psychrobacter, Sphingobium and Anoxybacillus. The content of malic acid and citric acid was gradually improved all through the millet Huangjiu fermentation. Malic acid and citric acid generated from millet Huangjiu fermentation shows healthy properties as liver protection and eliminating fatigue. Our research provides essential information on microbial community succession and the flavor formation during millet Huangjiu fermentation, and beneficial for development of Huangjiu products.

Higher alcohols (HAs) are abundant compounds that provide important flavors in Huangjiu, but they also cause hangover. Previous studies have shown the production of HAs to be related to yeast, but the correlations between HAs and other microorganisms are rarely reported. In this study, we detected changes in levels of HAs and microbial dynamics during the Huangjiu fermentation process. Relationships were characterized using Pearson’s correlation coefficient. The functional core HA-producing bacteria were selected by bidirectional orthogonal partial least squares (O2PLS). The result showed that 2-methyl-1-propanol, phenethyl alcohol and 3-methyl-1-butanol were the principle HAs present at high levels. Lactococcus and Saccharomyces were predominant at the genus level of bacteria and fungi, respectively. A total of 684 correlations between HAs and microorganisms were established. Five genera were screened as functional core HA-producing bacteria. Our findings might provide some new inspiration for controlling the content of HAs, enhancing international prestige and market expansion of Huangjiu.