Abstract
Streptococcus salivarius strains commonly produce bacteriocins as putative anticompetitor or signalling molecules. Here we report that bacteriocin production by the oral probiotic strain S. salivarius K12 is encoded by a large (ca. 190 kb) plasmid. Oral cavity transmission of the plasmid from strain K12 to a plasmid-negative variant of this bacterium was demonstrated in two subjects. Tests of additional S. salivarius strains showed large (up to ca. 220 kb) plasmids present in bacteriocin-producing isolates. Various combinations (up to 3 per plasmid) of loci encoding the known streptococcal lantibiotics salivaricin A, salivaricin B, streptin and SA-FF22 were localised to these plasmids. Since all bacteriocin-producing strains of S. salivarius tested to date appear to harbour plasmids, it appears that they may function as mobile repositories for bacteriocin loci, especially those of the lantibiotic class.
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We thank Dr Stefanie Keis and Dr John Sullivan, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Otago for their assistance.
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Wescombe, P.A., Burton, J.P., Cadieux, P.A. et al. Megaplasmids encode differing combinations of lantibiotics in Streptococcus salivarius . Antonie van Leeuwenhoek 90, 269–280 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10482-006-9081-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10482-006-9081-y