A three-species lactic-acid-bacterial mixed starter culture for controlled soymilk fermentation, composed of Streptococcus thermophilus, Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus, and Lactiplantibacillus plantarum. Li et al. 2026 used metatranscriptomics, non-targeted metabolomics, and single-strain dropout fermentations to resolve a cooperative succession in which S. thermophilus dominated mid-stage fermentation, L. plantarum subsequently dominated late-stage fermentation, and L. bulgaricus cross-fed the auxotrophic community.
Taxonomy
| Taxon | Ontology ID | Functional Roles | Abundance |
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| Streptococcus salivarius subsp. thermophilus — ontology label: Streptococcus thermophilus | NCBITaxon:1308 · TaxonMech · TraitMech | N/A | |
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| Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus | NCBITaxon:1585 · TaxonMech · TraitMech | N/A | |
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| Lactiplantibacillus plantarum | NCBITaxon:1590 · TaxonMech · TraitMech | N/A | |
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Ecological Interactions
The graph shows only explicitly linked interaction participants. Community members without an asserted participant link are omitted; membership alone does not imply an interaction.
Observed Soymilk Starter Succession
Taxonomic analysis of the mixed starter reported mid-stage S. thermophilus dominance followed by late-stage L. plantarum dominance. HYPOTHESIZED: the former facilitates the latter, as interpreted by the authors; the accessible abstract does not isolate the direction or mediator from succession alone.
Participating Taxa: Streptococcus salivarius subsp. thermophilus, Lactiplantibacillus plantarum
Biological Processes:
- fermentation (GO:0006113 · PathwayMech)
Evidence
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PMID:42637460 - PARTIAL (COMPUTATIONAL)"Taxonomic analysis revealed a cooperative succession pattern, where S. thermophilus dominated the mid-stage fermentation, facilitating the subsequent dominance of L. plantarum in the late-stage."
Inferred Soymilk Nutrient Cross-Feeding
L. bulgaricus dropout was associated with derepression of vitamin and amino acid biosynthetic gene clusters in the remaining starter. HYPOTHESIZED: L. bulgaricus supplies nutrients to other members. This transcriptional response is indirect support for cross-feeding, not traced transfer, identification of the exchanged compounds and recipients, or proof that supply caused the observed succession.
Evidence
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PMID:42637460 - PARTIAL (COMPUTATIONAL)"the removal of L. bulgaricus led to the significant derepression of vitamin and amino acid biosynthetic gene clusters, providing transcriptional evidence that L. bulgaricus functions as a key cross-feeding bacterium to support the auxotrophic community via cross-feeding."
Knowledge gaps & discussions (2)
KNOWLEDGE_GAP OPEN Which exact S. thermophilus, L. delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus, and L. plantarum strains, inoculation ratios, fermentation temperature, vessel geometry, and sampling time points were used for the soymilk dropout experiments?
The PubMed abstract establishes the three species, soymilk setting, single-strain dropout design, and high-level division-of-labor claims, but full protocol details and strain designations are not exposed in the abstract and the Elsevier full text is subscription-gated.
Attaches to: taxonomy#Streptococcus salivarius subsp. thermophilus, taxonomy#Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus, taxonomy#Lactiplantibacillus plantarum, growth_media#soymilk fermentation substrate
KNOWLEDGE_GAP OPEN Does the dropout response demonstrate specific nutrient transfer, and does that transfer explain the succession?
Fresh primary abstract and existing cache agree on succession and dropout-associated transcriptional responses. Those results support the authors' cross-feeding interpretation indirectly, without resolving exact transferred compounds, recipients or mediation of succession. No categorical CROSS_FEEDING or downstream arrow is retained or added. EuropePMC supplied no PMCID and the publisher full-text request returned HTTP403; methods, supplements, software identities and versions were not reviewed. No claim is made that this evidence is absent from the full paper.
Attaches to: ecological_interactions#Observed Soymilk Starter Succession, ecological_interactions#Inferred Soymilk Nutrient Cross-Feeding
1 evidence item(s)
the removal of L. bulgaricus led to the significant derepression of vitamin and amino acid biosynthetic gene clusters, providing transcriptional evidence that L. bulgaricus functions as a key cross-feeding bacterium to support the auxotrophic community via cross-feeding.
Supports the reported observation and the authors' proposed interpretation; the accessible abstract does not establish the detailed causal mechanism.
External Resources
| Name | Repository | Resource ID |
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PubMed record
PubMed record for the Food Research International article on mixed-starter soymilk fermentation. |
OTHER | PMID:42637460 |
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Article DOI
DOI for the Food Research International article describing the three-species soymilk starter culture. |
OTHER | doi:10.1016/j.foodres.2026.120134 |
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Growth Media
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