Acetobacter pasteurianus 386B has been selected as a candidate functional starter culture to better control the cocoa fermentation process. Previously, its genome has been sequenced and a genome-scale metabolic model (GEM) has been reconstructed. To understand its metabolic adaptation to cocoa fermentation conditions, different flux balance analysis (FBA) simulations were performed and compared with experimental data. In particular, metabolic flux distributions were simulated for two phases that characterize the growth of A. pasteurianus 386B under cocoa fermentation conditions, predicting a switch in respiratory chain usage in between these phases. The possible influence on the resulting energy production was shown using a reduced version of the GEM. FBA simulations revealed the importance of the compartmentalization of the ethanol oxidation reactions, namely in the periplasm or in the cytoplasm, and highlighted the potential role of ethanol as a source of carbon, energy, and NADPH. Regarding the latter, the physiological function of a proton-translocating NAD(P)⁺ transhydrogenase was further investigated in silico. This study revealed the potential of using a GEM to simulate the metabolism of A. pasteurianus 386B, and may provide a general framework toward a better physiological understanding of functional starter cultures in food fermentation processes.

巴氏醋杆菌386B已被选为候选功能发酵剂，以更好地控制可可发酵过程。以前，已经对其基因组进行了测序，并重建了基因组规模的代谢模型（GEM）。为了了解其对可可发酵条件的代谢适应性，进行了不同的通量平衡分析（FBA）模拟，并与实验数据进行了比较。特别是，模拟了表征巴氏杆菌生长的两个阶段的代谢通量分布386B在可可发酵条件下，预测了在这些阶段之间呼吸链使用的转换。使用简化版的GEM显示了对产生的能量产生的可能影响。FBA模拟揭示了区分乙醇氧化反应（即在周质或细胞质中）的重要性，并强调了乙醇作为碳，能量和NADPH来源的潜在作用。关于后者，在计算机上进一步研究了质子易位的NAD（P）⁺转氢酶的生理功能。这项研究揭示了使用GEM模拟巴氏曲霉新陈代谢的潜力 386B，可以为更好地生理理解食品发酵过程中的功能性起子培养物提供一个通用框架。