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Appl Environ Microbiol, March 1998, p. 1059-1065, Vol. 64, No. 3
Department of Food Science, Food
Chemistry/Microbiology Section, Agricultural University Wageningen,
Wageningen, The Netherlands
Received 19 June 1997/Accepted 10 December 1997
For effective utilization of peptides, Listeria
monocytogenes possesses two different peptide transport systems.
The first one is the previously described proton motive force
(PMF)-driven di- and tripeptide transport system (A. Verheul, A. Hagting, M.-R. Amezaga, I. R. Booth, F. M. Rombouts, and T. Abee, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 61:226-233, 1995). The present results
reveal that L. monocytogenes possesses an oligopeptide
transport system, presumably requiring ATP rather than the PMF as the
driving force for translocation. Experiments to determine growth in a
defined medium containing peptides of various lengths suggested that
the oligopeptide permease transports peptides of up to 8 amino acid
residues. Peptidase activities towards several oligopeptides were
demonstrated in cell extract from L. monocytogenes, which
indicates that upon internalization, the oligopeptides are hydrolyzed
to serve as sources of amino acids for growth. The peptide transporters
of the nonproteolytic L. monocytogenes might play an
important role in foods that harbor indigenous proteinases and/or
proteolytic microorganisms, since Pseudomonas fragi as well
as Bacillus cereus was found to enhance the growth of
L. monocytogenes to a large extent in a medium in which the
milk protein casein was the sole source of nitrogen. In addition,
growth stimulation was elicited in this medium when casein was
hydrolyzed by using purified protease from Bacillus
licheniformis. The possible contribution of the oligopeptide
transport system in the establishment of high numbers of L. monocytogenes cells in fermented milk products is discussed.
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Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Utilization of Oligopeptides by Listeria
monocytogenes Scott A

*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of
Food Science, Food Chemistry/Microbiology Section, Agricultural
University Wageningen, Bomenweg 2, 6703 HD Wageningen, The Netherlands.
Phone: 31317484981. Fax: 31317484893. E-mail:
tjakko.abee{at}algemeen.lenm.wau.nl.
Present address: Netherlands Institute for Dairy Research, 6710 BA
Ede, The Netherlands.
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