Pediococcus acidilactici strain:NCDC 252 Genome sequencing and assembly. Pediococcus acidilactici strain:NCDC 252

There is tremendous potential in P. acidilactici to develop as a probiotic and biotherapeutic agent as i) it is a facultative anaerobe and thus can survive in both aerobic and anaerobic conditions in gut and ii) being a microbe of dairy origin, it would be easy to make formulations for human consumption. Studies carried out till now established Pediococcus acidilactici as potential probiotic. Its enzymes also contribute to probiotic properties and being of GRAS status, study of enzymes open avenues for exploring these enzymes for dairy food and pharmaceutical industries. Currently Pediococcus acidilactici is being systematically studied as per (Indian Council of Medical Research-Department of Biotechnology) ICMR-DBT guidelines so as to ensure risk of systemic infections, deleterious metabolic activities, gene transfer and other side effects. Products of Pediococcus acidilactici are being studied for industrial purpose. Genome mining and in silico characterization will help us to understand putative genes and proteins that confer health benefits. The presence of virulence genes (if any), antipathogenic proteins will be studied by in-silico and PCR based approach. This will ensure the safety of the strain under study for human consumption and form the basis of future study for in vivo safety and efficacy assessment.