Pediococcus acidilactici PBF, isolated from a commercial fermented sausage, produced a bacteriocin which is antagonistic towards several species of bacteria associated with food spoilage and health hazards of food origin. The bacteriocin was found to be sensitive to proteolytic enzymes and resistant to heat and organic solvents as well as active over a wide range of pH. Bacteriocin production was associated with two peptides, with molecular weights of 4.61 and 6.68 kDa and encoded by a 9.42 kbp plasmid. The preliminary results were suggested that the bacteriocin may be a two-peptide bacteriocin and these two peptides possess more antimicrobial activity together than on their own. In the main part of this investigation, the plasmid DNA responsible for bacteriocin production in Pediococcus acidilactici PBF, was transformed to Pediococcus pentosaceus Chr Hansen strain, which is a commercial starter culture used in the meat industry of Turkey. Bacteriocin phenotype was successfully electrotransformed to Bac– Pediococcus pentosaceus and this newly designed strain has now extra properties to be used in the food industry as a starter culture to enhance the nutritional quality and shelf life and also can be regarded as safe.
Pediococcus acidilactici, Two peptide bacteriocin, Characterization, Electroporation
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