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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, June 2003, p. 3681-3685, Vol. 69, No. 6
0099-2240/03/$08.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/AEM.69.6.3681-3685.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Generation of Food-Grade Lactococcal Starters Which Produce the Lantibiotics Lacticin 3147 and Lacticin 481
Lisa O'Sullivan,1,2 Maire P. Ryan,1,2 R. Paul Ross,1* and Colin Hill2,3
Dairy Products Research Centre, Teagasc, Moorepark, Fermoy,1
Department of Microbiology,2
National Food Biotechnology Centre, University College Cork, County Cork, Republic of Ireland3
Received 7 September 2002/
Accepted 25 February 2003

ABSTRACT
Transconjugant lactococcal starters which produce both lantibiotics
lacticin 3147 and lacticin 481 were generated via conjugation
of large bacteriocin-encoding plasmids. A representative of
one of the resultant strains proved more effective at killing
Lactobacillus fermentum and inhibiting the growth of
Listeria monocytogenes LO28H than either of the single bacteriocin-producing
parental strains, demonstrating the potential of these transconjugants
as protection cultures for food safety applications.

INTRODUCTION
In the last 20 years, intensive research efforts into bacteriocins
produced by members of the lactic acid bacteria have resulted
in the discovery of many new bacteriocins which, based on their
structure-function relationships, can be divided into a number
of classes. Class I consists of small, complex, posttranslationally
modified peptides which are characterized by the presence of
modified thioether amino acids such as lanthionine, ß-methyllanthionine,
and

, ß-unsaturated amino acids such as dehydroalanine
and dehydrobutyrine and are usually referred to as lantibiotics
(
21,
25).
Undoubtedly, the most extensively studied of the lantibiotics is nisin, which has gained widespread application in the food industry. This Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved bacteriocin is produced by the GRAS (i.e., generally recognized as safe) organism Lactococcus lactis and is in approximately 50 countries exploited as a food additive, particularly in processed cheese, dairy products, and canned foods (2).
Like nisin, lacticin 481 is a single-peptide lantibiotic produced by some strains of L. lactis (12, 13, 15). It exhibits a medium spectrum of inhibition, mainly active against other lactic acid bacteria (LAB), but it is also active against Clostridium tyrobutyricum. An interesting feature recently associated with this bacteriocin is that it causes lysis of starter lactococcal cultures, which continue to grow, albeit at a slower growth rate (12). The bacteriocin thus has potential applications for the acceleration of cheese ripening as a direct result of starter lysis with concomitant enzyme release in the cheese matrix. The structure of lacticin 481 is known (26), and the six genes responsible for bacteriocin production, immunity, and transport have been shown to be plasmid encoded (10, 12, 14, 15, 16).
In contrast to both nisin and lacticin 481, lacticin 3147 is a two-component lantibiotic, requiring both structural proteins (LtnA1 and LtnA2) to give full biological activity (7). Like nisin, lacticin 3147 exhibits a broad inhibitory spectrum and is active against a wide range of gram-positive bacteria (19). This bacteriocin has a number of potential food and biomedical applications (17). For example, it has previously been shown to improve the safety of cottage cheese (8) and the quality of cheddar cheese (18). This bacteriocin also has potential in veterinary medicine and has been shown to reduce the incidence of mastitic infection in cattle when incorporated into teat seals (20, 24). The genes encoding bacteriocin production and immunity are well characterized and are encoded on a 60-kb conjugative plasmid, pMRC01, which can be easily transferred between strains (1, 11).
A potential problem associated with bacteriocin use as biopreservatives in foods is the development of resistant populations of problematic bacteria. Consequently, a number of studies have examined the efficacy of bacteriocin combinations for pathogen inhibition, for example, sakacin A and nisin A (23) and pediocin PA-1 and nisin (4). In such instances, it is bacteriocin preparations, either purified or synthetic, that generally have been evaluated. An alternative, more economic method of introducing bacteriocins to foods could be the use of cultures that produce multiple bacteriocins. In this respect, researchers have examined the heterologous coproduction of bacteriocins in L. lactis, including enterocin A and pediocin PA-1 (6) and pediocin PA-1 and nisin (5). In both of these studies, coproduction of the bacteriocins did not improve the inhibitory activity of the strains.

Generation of double lantibiotic-producing strains.
The purpose of this study was to stack two lantibiotics in a
single lactococcal strain in a food-grade manner. This initially
involved performing a number of conjugations by the method described
by Coakley et al. (
1), using various combinations of nisin,
lacticin 3147, and lacticin 481 producers as both donors and
recipients. All the strains used in this study are listed in
Table
1. The plasmid pCBG104, coding for lacticin 481 production
and immunity, was successfully transferred into
L. lactis DPC3147
at an efficiency of mobilization of 8.0
x 10
-3 transconjugants/donor
cell. The plasmid pMRC01, encoding lacticin 3147 production
and immunity, was also successfully transferred from MG1363pMRC01
into
L. lactis 481 and
L. lactis DPC5552 at efficiencies of
mobilization of 2.4
x 10
-2 and 4.8
x 10
-2 transconjugants/donor
cell, respectively. The putative transconjugants were able to
utilize lactose and were immune to both lacticin 3147 and lacticin
481. A number of transconjugants were selected from these conjugal
matings and referred to as
L. lactis strains 481pMRC01 and DPC5552pMRC01.
In contrast, despite numerous attempts, isolation of transconjugants
that coproduced either lacticin 3147 or lacticin 481 with nisin
could not be achieved through conjugation.
Evidence that these strains actually represented true transconjugants
was obtained via PCR. Two PCRs were performed, the first of
which was to indicate the presence of pMRC01 (the plasmid encoding
lacticin 3147) and the second to indicate the presence of pCBG104
(the plasmid encoding lacticin 481). Primers for the first PCR
were designed to amplify a 923-bp fragment which encompasses
the lacticin 3147 immunity gene
ltnI (
9). Primers for the second
PCR were designed to amplify a 720-bp fragment which encompasses
the lacticin 481 structural gene
lctA (
14). The results demonstrated
that all putative transconjugants contained both a 720-bp fragment
including the lacticin 481 structural gene,
lctA (Fig.
1b),
and a 923-bp fragment encompassing the lacticin 3147 immunity
gene,
ltnI (Fig.
1c).
Of the twelve transconjugants generated from the conjugal matings,
one was selected for further characterization, and this was
designated DPC5552pMRC01. Cross sensitivity assays were performed
with
L. lactis DPC3147, a lacticin 3147 producer;
L. lactis DPC5552, a lacticin 481 producer; and
L. lactis DPC5552pMRC01,
the double lantibiotic-producing transconjugant (Fig.
1a). The
results demonstrate that the double lantibiotic-producing strain
inhibits both parental strains DPC5552 and DPC3147 but is immune
to the bacteriocins they produce. Interestingly, strains that
produce lacticin 481 do exhibit some inhibition to themselves
that is also seen with the double lantibiotic-producing strain.

Purification of lacticin 3147 and lacticin 481 from DPC5552pMRC01.
The purification protocols developed for the isolation of pure
preparations of lacticin 3147 (
22) and lacticin 481 (
12) were
modified slightly to facilitate isolation of both bacteriocins
from the same culture supernatant. The modified protocol primarily
involved application of 4L DPC5552pMRC01 culture supernatant
to a column containing 50 g of XAD 16 beads. The column was
washed with 30% (vol/vol) ethanol, and the bacteriocin was eluted
in 70% (vol/vol) propan-2-ol. Following removal of the propan-2-ol
by rotor evaporation, the bacteriocin preparation was applied
to a C
18 Varian column, from which it was subsequently eluted
in 70% (vol/vol) propan-2-ol (pH 2). Following evaporation of
the alcohol, 1-ml samples were subjected to repeated reversed-phase
high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC). Verification
that both bacteriocins maintained activity following each purification
step was obtained by checking this preparation for activity
against both DPC3147 and DPC5552 as indicator strains (using
the DPC3147 strain as an indicator for lacticin 481 activity
and vice versa). LtnA2 was easily separated from LtnA1 and LctA
(lacticin 481 structural peptide), as it is significantly more
hydrophobic and eluted at approximately 54% (vol/vol) propan-2-ol.
In contrast, both LtnA1 and LctA coeluted at a propan-2-ol concentration
of approximately 48% (vol/vol) and were indistinguishable chromatographically
in a poorly defined peak (Fig.
2a). Concomitant with the separation
of the two lacticin 3147 peptides on RP-HPLC, a significant
loss of activity was observed when each was assayed individually
against the indicator strain
L. lactis HP, and full activity
was restored only via complementation of fraction A1 with A2
and vice versa. Figure
2b reveals that fractions 33 to 36 gave
substantial activity alone against
L. lactis HP, and based on
the fact that LtnA1 alone would not be expected to elicit such
activity, this was ascribed to lacticin 481. Complementation
of fractions 30 to 40 with purified A2 restored LtnA1 activity,
as larger zones were observed (Fig.
2b). Therefore, we can conclude
that these fractions contain LtnA1 and LctA, with the latter
being predominant within these fractions. Complementation of
fractions 45 to 54 with purified A1 restored LtnA2 activity
in these fractions (Fig.
2c).

Mass spectrometry analysis.
Three fractions were selected following RP-HPLC that were presumed
to contain the two lacticin 3147 peptides and lacticin 481,
and these fractions were subjected to mass spectrometry analysis.
The profile obtained for the fraction presumed to contain lacticin
481 generated a peak of 2,900.21 Da, which is consistent with
the mass of lacticin 481 (2,901 Da) (
14). The profile obtained
for the fraction presumed to contain LtnA2 generated a peak
of 2,847 Da, which corresponds exactly to the mass of LtnA2
(
22). The final fraction analyzed, which was expected to contain
LtnA1, generated a signal representing 3,305 Da, consistent
with the mass of LtnA1 (3,303 Da). Therefore, based on biological
and biochemical analyses, we concluded that all three peptides
are being produced by the double-producing strain.

Antimicrobial activity of the lacticin 3147-lacticin 481 producer.
The antimicrobial potential of the double producer was assessed
in two ways. In the first, live cultures of
L. lactis DPC5552,
L. lactis MG1363pMRC01, and
L. lactis DPC5552pMRC01 were cocultured
with relatively low numbers (

10
5) of
Lactobacillus fermentum over a 4-h incubation period. The results (Fig.
3a) demonstrate
that the lacticin 481-producing culture, DPC5552, begins to
inhibit
Lactobacillus fermentum following 90 min of incubation
and that complete kill is observed after 240 min. In the case
of the lacticin 3147 producer, MG1363pMRC01, inhibition is observed
after 30 min. However, in this instance, while the death rate
of
Lactobacillus fermentum is more rapid than in the presence
of DPC5552, a complete kill is nevertheless observed only after
240 min. In contrast, the double lantibiotic-producing strain
DPC5552pMRC01 exhibits an immediate inhibition of
Lactobacillus fermentum. The death rate is more rapid than with either bacteriocin
producer alone, and a complete kill is observed after 150 min.
In a further experiment,
Listeria monocytogenes LO28H was treated
with supernatant from each of the bacteriocin-producing cultures,
and its growth was monitored over a 6-h period. The results
(Fig.
3b) demonstrate that supernatant from the double lantibiotic-producing
strain has a more inhibitory effect on the growth rate of
Listeria monocytogenes than either lacticin 3147 or lacticin 481 alone.
Indeed, supernatant from the double bacteriocin producer reduced
the growth rate of
Listeria monocytogenes by almost fourfold
(
K values of

0.018 and

0.069 units of optical density [at 600
nm] per h, respectively). This would suggest that the bacteriocins
act synergistically to mediate their inhibitory effect.
In summary, we have demonstrated that it is relatively straightforward to construct food-grade lactococcal strains which coproduce the lantibiotics lacticin 3147 and lacticin 481. This can be achieved either by conjugating the lacticin 3147 genetic determinants into a 481-producing recipient or vice versa. These strains may prove more efficacious for food applications than either parent when used either as a live cell protection culture or for the production of bacteriocin preparation for addition to food.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This work was supported by EU funds (FAIR CT98-4396), the Irish
Government under the National Development Plan (2000-2006),
and Science Foundation Ireland. Lisa OSullivan is in
receipt of a Teagase Walsh fellowship.
We thank Paula OConnor for technical assistance.

FOOTNOTES
* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Dairy Quality Department, Dairy Products Research Centre, Moorepark, Fermoy, Co. Cork, Ireland. Phone: 353-25-42229. Fax: 353-25-42340. E-mail:
pross{at}moorepark.teagasc.ie.


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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, June 2003, p. 3681-3685, Vol. 69, No. 6
0099-2240/03/$08.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/AEM.69.6.3681-3685.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
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