A nitrite-degrading strain， Levilactobacillus brevis JYX2， was isolated from naturally fermented sauerkraut in Northeast China， and its safety was evaluated through hemolysis test and antibiotic susceptibility test. To elucidate the genomic characteristics of L. brevis JYX2 and its nitrite degradation-related genes， Pacbio third-generation sequencing and Illumina second-generation sequencing technologies were employed for whole-genome sequencing. Based on the obtained sequences， gene prediction and functional annotation analysis were conducted through COG， GO， and KEGG databases. Meanwhile， the safety of L. brevis JYX2 was analyzed using the CARD and VFDB databases. The results showed that L. brevis JYX2 could degrade up to 98.72% of sodium nitrite in the culture medium after 24 h of incubation in MRS medium containing 100 μg/mL sodium nitrite. And the strain exhibited no hemolytic activity and demonstrated high sensitivity to antibiotics such as gentamicin， erythromycin， and chloramphenicol (with inhibition zone diameters ≥ 20 mm)， indicating a favorable safety profile. The genome of L. brevis JYX2 was composed of a circular closed DNA and a circular plasmid， with a genome length of 2 567 154 bp and a GC content of 45.82%. A total of 2 485 coding genes， 65 tRNA genes， 15 rRNA genes， and 27 sRNAs were predicted. Furthermore， 1 926， 1 762， 1 823， 73， 180， 217 functional genes were annotated in COG， GO， KEGG， CAZY， CARD and VFDB databases， respectively. Further analysis revealed that no nitrite reductase gene was detected in the genome of L. brevis JYX2， suggesting that its nitrite degradation may rely on other enzymes or mechanisms. Additionally， predictive analyses of virulence and resistance genes further confirmed the safety of the L. brevis JYX2 strain. In conclusion， L. brevis JYX2 exhibits both functional efficacy and safety， making it a suitable candidate as a fermentation agent for nitrite reduction in fermented foods.

Levilactobacillus brevis  /  whole genome sequencing  /  sodium nitrite  /  gene function annotation  /  sauerkraut