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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, February 1999, p. 659-664, Vol. 65, No. 2
0099-2240/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Characterization of Fatty Acid Composition, Spore Germination, and Thermal Resistance in a Nisin-Resistant Mutant of Clostridium botulinum 169B and in the Wild-Type Straindagger

Alejandro S. MazzottaDagger and Thomas J. Montville*

Department of Food Science, Cook College, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08901-8520

Received 19 February 1998/Accepted 29 October 1998

The membrane fatty acids, thermal resistance, and germination of a nisin-resistant (Nisr) mutant of Clostridium botulinum 169B were compared with those of the wild-type (WT) strain. In the membranes of WT cells, almost 50% of the total fatty acids were unsaturated, but in those of Nisr cells, only 23% of the fatty acids were unsaturated. WT and Nisr spores contained similar amounts (approximately 23%) of unsaturated fatty acids, but the saturated straight-chain/branched-chain ratio was significantly higher in Nisr spores than in WT spores. These fatty acid differences suggest that Nisr cell and spore membranes may be more rigid, a characteristic which would interfere with the pore-forming ability of nisin. Nisr C. botulinum did not produce an extracellular nisin-degrading enzyme, nor were there any differences in the sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis patterns of coat proteins extracted from WT and Nisr spores, eliminating these as possible reasons for nisin resistance. Nisr spores had thermal resistance parameters similar to those of WT spores. In WT spores, but not in Nisr spores, nisin caused a 40% reduction in thermal resistance and a twofold increase in the germination rate. Because the nisin-induced increase in the germination rate of WT spores occurred only in the presence of a germinant (a molecule that triggers germination), nisin can be classified as a progerminant (a molecule that stimulates germination only in the presence of a germinant).

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Cook College, Department of Food Science, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, 65 Dudley Rd., New Brunswick, NJ 08901-8520. Phone: (732) 932-9611, ext. 201. Fax: (732) 932-6776. E-mail: montville{at}aesop.rutgers.edu.

dagger Manuscript D-10974-1-98 of the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station.

Dagger Present address: National Food Processors Association, Washington, DC 20005-3305.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, February 1999, p. 659-664, Vol. 65, No. 2
0099-2240/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


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