Proteomic Response of <i>Bacillus subtilis</i> Spores under High Pressure Combined with Moderate Temperature and Random Peptide Mixture LK Treatment

In this study, a method of Bacillus subtilis spore inactivation under high pressure (P, 200 MPa) combined with moderate temperature (T, 80 °C) and the addition of antimicrobial peptide LK (102 μg/mL) was investigated. Spores presented cortex hydrolysis and inner membrane (IM) damage with an 8.16 log reduction in response to treatment with PT-LK, as observed by phase-contrast and inverted fluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry (FCM) analysis. Furthermore, a tandem mass tag (TMT) quantitative proteomics approach was utilized because Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) analysis data were used. After treatment with PT-LK, 17,017 polypeptides and 3166 proteins were detected from B. subtilis spores. Among them, 78 proteins showed significant differences in abundance between the PT-LK-treated and control groups, with 49 proteins being upregulated and 29 proteins being downregulated in the PT-LK-treated group. Genetic information processing, metabolism, cellular process, and environmental information processing were the main mechanisms of PT-LK-mediated spore inactivation