Lactic acid bacteria (LAB), as one of the key microorganisms in the food industry, play a crucial role in functional food fermentation. However, current LAB strains are limited by challenges, such as plasmid instability, low gene expression efficiency, and complex regulation of metabolic fluxes, which hinder their broader application. This review provides an overview of the traditional applications of LAB while highlighting current limitations that constrain their effective use. Then, it focuses on synthetic biology-driven strategies for precisely designing and expanding functions through gene editing, metabolic engineering, and genetic circuits. Finally, this review discusses how to improve gene expression efficiency in LAB and the use of directed evolution to optimize exogenous genes, offering perspectives for future research in the development of personalized food applications. The emerging tools of synthetic biology will further improve the production efficiency and product diversity and meet the needs of consumers for high-quality, multifunctional, and personalized food.
Li et al. (Mon,) studied this question.