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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, September 2007, p. 5501-5506, Vol. 73, No. 17
0099-2240/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.00545-07
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Propionibacterium jensenii Produces the Polyene Pigment Granadaene and Has Hemolytic Properties Similar to Those of Streptococcus agalactiae ^,

Laboratory of Microbial Gene Technology and Food Microbiology, Department of Chemistry, Biotechnology and Food Science, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, N-1432 Ås, Norway,¹ Department of Chemistry, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, NO-7491 Trondheim, Norway,² Tine BA, Oslo, Norway³

Received 9 March 2007/ Accepted 30 June 2007

The red polyene pigment granadaene was purified and identified from Propionibacterium jensenii. Granadaene has previously been identified only in Streptococcus agalactiae, where the pigment correlates with the hemolytic activity of the bacterium. A connection between hemolytic activity and the production of the red pigment has also been observed in P. jensenii, as nonpigmented strains are nonhemolytic. The pigment and hemolytic activity from S. agalactiae can be extracted from the bacterium with a starch extraction solution, and this solution also extracts the pigment and hemolytic activity from P. jensenii. A partial purification of the hemolytic activity was achieved, but the requirement for starch to preserve its activity made the purification unsuccessful. Partially purified hemolytic fractions were pigmented, and the color intensity of the fractions coincided with the hemolytic titer. The pigment was produced in a soluble form when associated with starch, and the UV-visual spectrum of the extract gave absorption peaks of 463 nm, 492 nm, and 524 nm. The pigment could also be extracted from the cells by a low-salt buffer, but it was then aggregated. The purification of the pigment from P. jensenii was performed, and mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance analysis revealed that P. jensenii indeed produces granadaene as seen in S. agalactiae.

Published ahead of print on 13 July 2007.

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