Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Lactacin B, A Bacteriocin Produced by Lactobacillus Acidophilus

  • Chapter
Bacteriocins of Lactic Acid Bacteria

Abstract

Numerous reports prior to the discovery of lactacin B in 1983 suggested that Lactobacillus acidophilus produces antimicrobial agents (presumably proteins) inhibitory to undesirable intestinal flora (Vincent et al., 1959; Vakil & Shahani, 1965; Gilliland & Speck, 1977; Shahani & Ayebo, 1980). Of those described, the agent most like a bacteriocin was the broad-spectrum inhibitor lactocidin from aged liver veal agar cultures of intestinal isolates of L. acidophilus (Vincent et al., 1959). Crude lactocidin was extractable from agar cultures adjusted to below pH 5.0 or above pH 7.8, but not to pH 7.0. Unlike lactic acid or hydrogen peroxide, crude lactocidin was non-dialyzable, insensitive to treatment with catalase, and active at pH 7.0 against Gram-negative and Gram-positive cultures, including several pathogens. The activity of lactocidin against Salmonella enteritidis, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Staphylococcus aureus led Vincent et al (1959) to speculate that L. acidophilus producer strains were essential in controlling undesirable flora in the intestinal tract. However, antibacterial activity at pH 7.0 was lost with further purification (Vincent et al., 1959) and subsequent characterization of lactocidin is noticeably absent from the literature. This report and the controversy regarding broad-spectrum antagonists produced by L. acidophilus led Barefoot & Klaenhammer (1983) to survey the species for production of inhibitory proteins.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
eBook
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Anonymous (1982). Gel Filtration Theory and Practice. Pharmacia Fine Chemicals, Uppsala, Sweden.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barefoot, S. F. (1985). Bacteriocins produced by Lactobacillus acidophilus. Characterization of lactacin B. PhD dissertation, North Carolina State University, Raleigh.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barefoot, S. F. & Klaenhammer, T. R. (1983).Detection and activity of lactacin B, a bacteriocin produced by Lactobacillus acidophilus. Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 45, 1808–1815.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barefoot, S. F. & Klaenhammer, T. R. (1984).Purification and characterization of the Lactobacillus acidophilus bacteriocin, lactacin B. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother., 26, 328–334.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bhunia, A. K., Johnson, M. C. & Ray, B. (1988).Purification, characterization, and antimicrobial spectrum of a bacteriocin produced by Pediococcus acidilactici. J. Appl. Bacteriol., 65, 261–268.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bhunia, A. K., Johnson, M. C. & Kalchayanad, N. (1991).Mode of action of pediocin AcH from Pediococcus acidilactici H on sensitive bacterial strains. J. Appl. Bacteriol., 70, 25–33.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Biswas, S. R., Ray, P., Johnson, M. C. & Ray, B. (1991).Influence of growth conditions on the production of a bacteriocin, pediocin AcH, by Pediococcus acidilactici AcH. Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 57, 1265–1267.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bradford, M. M. (1976).A rapid and sensitive method for the quantitation of microgram quantities of protein using the principle of protein-dye binding. Anal. Biochem., 72, 248–254.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen, Y. R., Barefoot, S. F., Hughes, M. D. & Hughes, T. A. (1992). The agent from gram-positive cells that enhances lactacin B production by Lactobacillus acidophilus in associative cultures. In Program and Abstracts of the Annual Meeting, Institute of Food Technologists, New Orleans, LA. June 20-24.

    Google Scholar 

  • Collins, E. B. & Aramaki, K. (1980).Production of hydrogen peroxide by Lactobacillus acidophilus. J. Dairy Sci., 63, 353–357.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Cardenas, I. L. B., Ledesma, O. V., de Ruiz Holgado, A. A. P. & Oliver G. (1985).Effect of lactate on the growth and production of diacetyl and acetoin by lactobacilli. J. Dairy Sci., 68, 1897–1901.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Man, J. C., Rogosa, M. & Sharpe, M. E. (1960).A medium for the cultivation of lactobacilli. J. Appl. Bacteriol., 23, 130–135.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Delves-Broughton, J. (1990). Nisin and its uses as a preservative. Food Technol., 44(11), 100–117.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gao, F. H., Abee, T. & Konings, W. N. (1991).Mechanism of action of the peptide antibiotic nisin in liposomes and cytochrome c oxidase-containing proteoliposomes. Appl Environ. Microbiol., 57, 2164–2170.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gilliland, S. E. & Speck, M. L. (1977).Antagonistic action of Lactobacillus acidophilus toward intestinal and foodborne pathogens in associative cultures. J. Food Prot., 40, 820–823.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harris, L. J., Daeschel, M. A., Stiles, M. E. & Klaenhammer, T. R. (1989).Antimicrobial activity of lactic acid bacteria against Listeria monocytogenes. J. Food Prot., 52, 384–387.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harvey, R. J. & Collins, E. B. (1963).Roles of citrate and acetoin in the metabolism of Streptococcus diacetilactis. J. Bacteriol., 86, 1301–1307.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hastings, J. W., Sailer, M, Johnson, K., Roy, K. L., Vederas, J. C. & Stiles, M. E. (1991).Characterization of leucocin A-UAL 187 and cloning of the bacteriocin gene from Leuconostoc gelidum. J. Bacteriol., 173, 7491–7500.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hughes, M. D. (1990). Activity of the L. acidophilus bacteriocin, lactacin B, is enhanced during associative growth of L. acidophilus N2 and L. leichmannii 4797 MS thesis, Clemson University, SC.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hughes, M. D. & Barefoot, S. F. (1990). Activity of the bacteriocin lactacin B is enhanced during associative growth of Lactobacillus acidophilus N2 and Lactobacillus leichmanii 4791. 0-12. In Abstracts Annual Meeting Amer. Soc. Microbiol., Anaheim, CA, 13-17 May.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hurst, A. (1981). Nisin. In Adv. Appl. Microbiol., Vol. 27, ed. D. Perlman & A. I. Laskin. Academic Press, New York, pp. 85–123.

    Google Scholar 

  • Joerger, M. C. & Klaenhammer, T. R. (1986).Characterization and purification of helveticin J and evidence for a chromosomally determined bacteriocin produced by Lactobacillus helveticus 481. J. Bacteriol., 167, 439–446.

    Google Scholar 

  • Joerger, M. C. & Klaenhammer, T. R. (1990).Cloning, expression, and nucleotide sequence of the Lactobacillus helveticus 481 gene encoding the bacteriocin helveticin J. J. Bacteriol., 172, 6339–6347.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, J. L., Phelps, C. F., Cummins, C. S., London, J. & Gasser, F. (1980).Taxonomy of the Lactobacillus acidophilus group. Internat. J. Syst. Bacteriol., 30, 53–63.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kandier, O. & Weiss, N. (1986). Genus Lactobacillus Beijerinck 1901, 212AL. In Bergey’s Manual of Systematic Bacteriology, Vol. 2, ed. P. H. A. Sneath, N. S. Mair, M. E. Sharpe & J. G. Holt. Williams & Wilkins, Baltimore, MD, pp. 1209–1234.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kékessey, D. A. & Piguet, J. D. (1970).New method for detecting bacteriocin production. Appl. Microbiol., 20, 282–283.

    Google Scholar 

  • Klaenhammer, T. R. (1988).Bacteriocins of lactic acid bacteria. Biochimie, 70, 337–349.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Laemmli, U. K. (1970).Cleavage of structural proteins during the assembly of the head of bacteriophage T4. Nature (London), 227, 680–685.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lazdunski, C. J. (1988).Pore-forming colicins: synthesis, extracellular release, mode of action, immunity. Biochimie, 70, 1291–1296.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lewus, C. B., Kaiser, A. & Montville, T. J. (1991).Inhibition of food-borne bacterial pathogens by bacteriocins from lactic acid bacteria isolated from meat. Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 57, 1683–1688.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lowry, O. H., Rosebrough, N. J., Farr, A. L. & Randall, R. J. (1951).Protein measurement with the Folin phenol reagent. J. Biol. Chem., 193, 265–275.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mayr-Harting, A., Hedges, A. J. & Berkeley, R. C. W. (1972). Methods for studying bacteriocins. In Methods in Microbiology, Vol. 7a, ed. J. W. Norris & D. W. Ribbons. Academic Press, London, pp. 315–422.

    Google Scholar 

  • Merril, C. R., Goldman, D., Sedman, S. A. & Ebert, M. H. (1981).Ultrasensitive stain for proteins in Polyacrylamide gels shows regional variation in cerebrospinal fluid proteins. Science, 211, 1437–1438.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mørtvedt, C. I., Nissen-Meyer, J., Sletten, K. & Nes, I. F. (1991).Purification and amino acid sequence of lactocin S, a bacteriocin produced by Lactobacillus sake L45. Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 57, 1829–1834.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moustapha, H. H. & Collins, E. B. (1968).Role of galactose or glucose-1-phosphate in preventing the lysis of Streptococcus diacetylactis. J. Bacteriol., 95, 592–602.

    Google Scholar 

  • Muriana, P. M. & Klaenhammer, T. R. (1987).Conjugal transfer of plasmid-encoded determinants for bacteriocin production and immunity in Lactobacillus acidophilus 88. Appl Environ. Microbiol., 53, 553–560.

    Google Scholar 

  • Muriana, P. M. & Klaenhammer, T. R. (1991a).Cloning, phenotypic expression, and DNA sequence of the gene for lactacin F, an antimicrobial peptide produced by Lactobacillus spp. J. Bacteriol., 173, 1779–1788.

    Google Scholar 

  • Muriana, P. M. & Klaenhammer, T. R. (1991b).Purification and partial characterization of lactacin F, a bacteriocin produced by Lactobacillus acidophilus 11088. Appl Environ. Microbiol., 57, 114–121.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nettles, C. G. (1992). Purification and amino acid composition of the Lactobacillus acidophilus bacteriocin, lactacin B. PhD dissertation, Clemson University, SC.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nettles, C. G., Barefoot, S. F. & Bodine, A. B. (1991). Purification and partial sequence of the Lactobacillus acidophilus bacteriocin, lactacin B. P91. In Program and Abstracts. Ann. Meet., Soc. Indust. Microbiol., Philadelphia, PA, August 4-9.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peterson, G. L. (1977). A simplification of the protein assay method of Lowry et al. which is generally more applicable. Anal. Biochem. 83, 346–356.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Piard, J. C., Muriana, P. M., Desmazeaud, M. & Klaenhammer, T. R. (1992).Purification and partial characterization of lacticin 481, a lanthionine-containing bacteriocin produced by Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis CNRZ 481. Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 58, 279–284.

    Google Scholar 

  • Price, R. J. & Lee, J. S. (1969).Inhibition of Pseudomonas species by hydrogen peroxide producing lactobacilli. J. Milk Food Technol., 33, 13–18.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pugsley, A. P. (1984a).The ins and outs of colicins. Part I: Production and translocation across membranes. Microbiol. Sci., 1, 168–175.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pugsley, A. P. (1984b).The ins and outs of colicins. Part II: Lethal action, immunity and ecological implications. Microbiol. Sci., 1, 203–205.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rammeisberg, M., Müller, E. & Radler, F. (1990).Caseicin 80: purification and characterization of a new bacteriocin from Lactobacillus casei. Arch. Microbiol., 154, 249–252.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ruhr, E. & Sahl, H. G. (1985).Mode of action of the peptide antibiotic nisin and influence on the membrane potential of whole cells and on cytoplasmic and artificial membrane vesicles. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother., 27, 841–845.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schillinger, U. (1990). Bacteriocins of lactic acid bacteria. In Biotechnology and Food Safety, ed. D. D. Bills & S. D. Kung. Butterworth-Heinemann, Boston.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shahani, K. M. & Ayebo, A. D. (1980).Role of dietary lactobacilli in gastrointestinal microecology. Amer. J. Clinical Nutr., 33, 2448–2457.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stoffels, G., Nissen-Meyer, J., Gudmundsdottir, A., Sletten, K., Holo, H. & Nes, I. F. (1992).Purification and characterization of a new bacteriocin isolated from a Carnobacterium sp. Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 58, 1417–1422.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tagg, J. R. & McGiven, A. R. (1971).Assay systems for bacteriocins. Appl. Microbiol., 21, 943.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tagg, J. R., Dajani, A. S. & Wannamaker, L. W. (1976).Bacteriocins of gram positive bacteria. Bacteriol. Rev., 40, 722–756.

    Google Scholar 

  • Upreti, G. C. & Hinsdill, R. D. (1973).Isolation and characterization of a bacteriocin from a homofermentative Lactobacillus. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother., 4, 487–494.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Upreti, G. C. & Hinsdill, R. D. (1975).Production and mode of action of lactocin 27: bacteriocin from homofermentative Lactobacillus. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother., 7, 145–149.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vakil, J. R. & Shahani, K. M. (1965). Partial purification of antibacterial activity of Lactobacillus acidophilus. Bacteriol. Proc., p. 9.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vincent, J. G., Veomett, R. C. & Riley, R. F. (1959).Antibacterial activity associated with Lactobacillus acidophilus. J. Bacteriol., 78, 477–484.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Food Science, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, USA

    S. F. Barefoot

  2. Department of Microbiology, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, USA

    S. F. Barefoot

  3. USDA, ARS, Meat Animal Research Center, Clay Center, NE, USA

    C. G. Nettles & Y. R. Chen

Authors
  1. S. F. Barefoot
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. C. G. Nettles
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Y. R. Chen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Industrial Microbiology and Biocatalysis, University of Gent, Belgium

    Luc De Vuyst  & Erick J. Vandamme  & 

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 1994 Springer Science+Business Media New York

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Barefoot, S.F., Nettles, C.G., Chen, Y.R. (1994). Lactacin B, A Bacteriocin Produced by Lactobacillus Acidophilus . In: De Vuyst, L., Vandamme, E.J. (eds) Bacteriocins of Lactic Acid Bacteria. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-2668-1_13

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-2668-1_13

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-6146-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-2668-1

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation