The genus Pseudomonas is widely recognized for its potential for environmental remediation and plant growth promotion. Pseudomonas sp. DY-1 was isolated from the agricultural soil contaminated five years by prometryne, it manifested an outstanding prometryne degradation efficiency and an untapped potential for plant resistance improvement. Thus, it is meaningful to comprehend the genetic background for strain DY-1. The whole genome sequence of this strain revealed a series of environment adaptive and plant beneficial genes which involved in environmental stress response, heavy metal or metalloid resistance, nitrate dissimilatory reduction, riboflavin synthesis, and iron acquisition. Detailed analyses presented the potential of strain DY-1 for degrading various organic compounds via a homogenized pathway or the protocatechuate and catechol branches of the β-ketoadipate pathway. In addition, heterologous expression, and high efficiency liquid chromatography (HPLC) confirmed that prometryne could be oxidized by a Baeyer-Villiger monooxygenase (BVMO) encoded by a gene in the chromosome of strain DY-1. The result of gene knock-out suggested that the sulfate starvation-induced (SSI) genes in this strain might also involve in the process of prometryne degradation. These results would provide the molecular basis for the application of strain DY-1 in various fields and would contribute to the study of prometryne biodegradation mechanism as well.

Fermentation utilizing a combination of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) is known to enhance the nutritional value of wheat germ extract via the production of functional bioactive compounds. In this work, fermentation via compound LAB significantly enhanced the antioxidant activity of wheat germ extract. Compared to the unfermented group (CON), the in vitro antioxidant indices of Lactobacillus fermented wheat embryo extract were increased significantly: DPPH^·+/ABTS^·+ clearance (67.87 ± 3.48%/71.44 ± 5.90%), FRAP value (1.33 ± 0.02 μmol Trolox/10 mg), and active substance content including GSH (78.04 ± 1.43 μmol/g), total phenols (0.53 ± 0.01 mg GAE/10 mg), and total flavonoids (0.032 ± 0.01 mg/10 mg). Moreover, the antioxidant activity and substances of lactic acid bacteria-fermented wheat embryo extract were improved after gastrointestinal digestion compared with CON. In the erastin-induced Drosophila oxidative stress model, LFWGC intervention significantly improved behavioral performance (12.6 ± 3.78 s of tube climbing and 101.2 ± 7.98 jumps) and increased in vivo antioxidant levels: DPPH^·+·+ clearance by 31.75 ± 0.62%, ABTS^·+ clearance by 50.11 ± 0.82%, FRAP to 0.89 ± 0.03 μmol Trolox/10 mg, and GSH (116.30 ± 1.95 μmol/g), total phenols (0.117 ± 0.01 mg GAE/mg), and total flavonoids (0.027 ± 0.002 mg/g). Mechanistically, LFWGC enriched the intestinal flora with Levilactobacillus and Pseudomonas by restoring Tsf1 protein function, upregulating the expression of the TSF1 and GPX4 genes, and activating the pentose phosphate and a-lanine–aspartate-glutamate metabolic pathways, thereby synergistically enhancing the antioxidant defense system. LAB fermentation effectively enhanced the antioxidant capacity of wheat germ extract, providing a theoretical foundation for the development of functional foods.

Rice bran is a nutrient-rich agricultural by-product, and most of the bioactive compounds in it are bound and thus have poor bioavailability. Research has demonstrated that targeted microbial fermentation is a high-efficiency bioprocess for the degradation and modification of complex macromolecules to release phenolic compounds, flavonoids, dietary fibre derivatives and other new biologically active substances. Fermentation can be used to increase the antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and metabolically regulatory effects of rice bran more efficiently by changing its structure and increasing the content of active components compared with the conventional extraction method. Although some studies have investigated how to obtain suitable microbial strains and substrates, optimisation of the processing conditions for improving metabolic and functional performance has not been achieved; otherwise, other problems will still arise in the event of industrial-scale application, such as fluctuations in raw material supply, process instability, and high production costs. In the future, the integration of process analytical technology (PAT), artificial intelligence and microbial engineering will build a large-scale intelligent and controllable fermentation system. Therefore, the specific route of fermentation for valorising rice bran into high-value functional ingredients has been identified, and the scientific foundation for developing sustainable foods and nutraceuticals has been established.

Prometryn, a methylthio-s-triazine herbicide, persists widely in agricultural soils after long-term application, causing crop phytotoxicity and potential human health risks, and microbial degradation offers an eco-friendly, cost-effective strategy for remediation. In this study, three prometryn-degrading bacterial strains were isolated from long-term contaminated cornfield soil in Harbin, China, and identified as Pseudomonas sp. ZM-1, Achromobacter sp. ZM-2 and Stenotrophomonas sp. ZM-3 based on morphological, biochemical and 16S rDNA sequence analysis; strain ZM-3 is, to the best of our knowledge, the first reported pure-culture Stenotrophomonas isolate with confirmed prometryn-degrading capability. The three strains degraded 97.3%, 85.1% and 92.8% of 100 mg·L⁻¹ prometryn within 48 h respectively. The 1:1:1 synthetic consortium removed 96.8% of prometryn in 15 h, showing markedly superior degradation efficiency compared with single strains, and its 12-h degradation rate reached 96.87% with a half-life of 2.2 h following response surface optimization. In soil microcosms spiked with 20 mg·kg⁻¹ prometryn, the consortium reduced the pollutant half-life from 58.2 days to 7.8 days and achieved 96.3% removal after 30 days, alongside enhanced soil dehydrogenase, catalase and urease activities. High-throughput 16S rRNA gene sequencing revealed directional succession of the soil bacterial community, enrichment of core degrading taxa, and predicted enrichment of xenobiotic biodegradation pathways during remediation. Maize pot experiments confirmed that the consortium significantly alleviated prometryn phytotoxicity at the tested concentration, restoring plant growth parameters to 95–97% of the uncontaminated control. This study provides an efficient synthetic microbial consortium for bioremediation of prometryn-contaminated agricultural soils.

This study explored how the chemical composition and molecular structure of black rice influence its glycemic index (GI), as well as how different processing methods regulate these relationships. Eight black rice varieties were analyzed for their nutritional composition, physicochemical and rheological properties, and protein structural characteristics. Results showed that higher protein and lipid contents were associated with lower GI values, likely due to reduced starch accessibility and slower enzymatic digestion. Varieties with more ordered protein conformations and stronger molecular interactions exhibited lower GI, indicating that protein structural organization plays an important role in starch digestibility. Among the tested varieties, “Huamoxiang” showed the highest GI (68.40 ± 2.04), while “Yanghei No. 3” exhibited the lowest GI (49.27 ± 4.14). Low-GI varieties were further subjected to different processing treatments. Fermentation effectively reduced GI by 8.44% by limiting starch gelatinization and enzymatic susceptibility, while puffing maintained a low GI through molecular rearrangement of starch. In contrast, steaming disrupted ordered starch structures and significantly increased GI. Overall, these findings provide practical guidance for selecting black rice varieties and processing strategies to develop low-GI black rice products, supporting the design of functional foods and dietary management for glycemic control.