Metabolomics profiling during biofilm development of Bacillus licheniformis isolated from milk powder

Abstract Bacillus licheniformis is a major source of microbial contamination to dairy industry, and biofilm formation by this spoilage bacterium aggravates the safety issues. Especially for milk powder manufactures, the evaporation process at temperatures between 50 °C and 70 °C before spray drying, is a critical control point against thermophilic bacteria multiplication. In our study, metabolomics analysis was performed to investigate dynamic changes of the metabolites and their roles during process of biofilm development of B. licheniformis at 55 °C for 24 h. Amino acid metabolism was quite active, with cooperation from lipid metabolism, carbohydrate metabolism and nucleotide metabolism. Amino acid biosynthesis provided significant contributions especially during early biofilm development from 8 to 12 h. Metabolites involved in specific pathways of arginine biosynthetic, galactose metabolism and sphingolipid metabolism played a crucial role in building biofilm. This work provided new insights into dynamic metabolic alternations and a comprehensive network during B. licheniformis biofilm development, which will extend the knowledge on the metabolic process of biofilm formation by B. licheniformis. The results are helpful in creating better environmental hygiene in dairy processing and new strategies for ensuring quality of dairy products.