Plasmid-encoded diacetyl (acetoin) reductase in Leuconostoc pseudomesenteroides

Lactic acid bacteria isolated from Kazakh traditional fermented milk products affect the fermentation characteristics and sensory qualities of yogurt

Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) play a crucial role in the development of the taste, texture, and aroma of traditional fermented milk products. Five LABs from Kazakh traditionally prepared dairy products showed continuous subculture stability, as well as proper acidification and coagulation ability. They were identified as Pediococcus pentosaceus (1–5, 1–7), Enterococcus faecium (1–19), and Lactobacillus plantarum (1–12, 1–15). Their coagulation time and acidity values ranged from 5.97 to 12.78 h and 76.47 to 89.39°T. Yogurts prepared with L. plantarum were more condensed and textural integrity than those with P. pentosaceus and E. faecium. Determination of the volatile compound profiles suggested a higher diversity of volatile compounds than the control. The sensory evaluation presented positive overall sensory quality scores for the yogurts prepared with 1–12 and 1–15. The results provide additional information regarding the contributions of native LABs to the unique flavor and sensory qualities of traditionally prepared milk products. They may help to select starters or adjunct starters for developing distinctive, traditional nomadic fermented milk to satisfy consumer demand and increase market acceptability.

Mechanisms of Acetoin Toxicity and Adaptive Responses in an Acetoin-Producing Species, Lactococcus lactis

Acetoin, 3-hydroxyl,2-butanone, is extensively used as a flavor additive in food products. This volatile compound is produced by the dairy bacterium Lactococcus lactis when aerobic respiration is activated by haem addition, and comprises ∼70% of carbohydrate degradation products. Here we investigate the targets of acetoin toxicity, and determine how acetoin impacts L. lactis physiology and survival. Acetoin caused damage to DNA and proteins, which related to reactivity of its keto group. Acetoin stress was reflected in proteome profiles, which revealed changes in lipid metabolic proteins. Acetoin provoked marked changes in fatty acid composition, with massive accumulation of cycC19:0 cyclopropane fatty acid at the expense of its unsaturated C18:1 fatty acid precursor. Deletion of the cfa gene, encoding the cycC19:0 synthase, sensitized cells to acetoin stress. Acetoin-resistant transposon mutagenesis revealed a hot spot in the high affinity phosphate transporter operon pstABCDEF, which is known to increase resistance to multiple stresses. This work reveals the causes and consequences of acetoin stress on L. lactis, and may facilitate control of lactic acid bacteria production in technological processes.

IMPORTANCE Acetoin, 3-hydroxyl,2-butanone, has diverse uses in chemical industry, agriculture, and dairy industries as a volatile compound that generates aromas. In bacteria, it can be produced in high amount by Lactococcus lactis when it grows under aerobic respiration. However, acetoin production can be toxic and detrimental for growth and/or survival. Our results showed that it damages DNA and proteins via its keto group. We also showed that acetoin modifies membrane fatty acid composition with the production of cyclopropane C19:0 fatty acid at the expense of an unsaturated C18:1. We isolated mutants more resistant to acetoin than the wild-type strain. All of them mapped to a single locus pstABCDEF operon, suggesting a simple means to limit acetoin toxicity in dairy bacteria and to improve its production.

Genome sequence of Leuconostoc pseudomesenteroides strain 4882, isolated from a dairy starter culture

The nonstarter lactic acid bacterium Leuconostoc pseudomesenteroides is a species widely found in the dairy industry and plays a key role in the formation of aromatic compounds. Here, we report the first genome sequence of a dairy strain of Leuconostoc pseudomesenteroides, which is 2 Mb.

Characterization of two aldo-keto reductases from Gluconobacter oxydans 621H capable of regio- and stereoselective alpha-ketocarbonyl reduction

Two cytosolic NADPH-dependent carbonyl reductases from Gluconobacter oxydans 621H, Gox0644 and Gox1615, were heterologously produced in Escherichia coli. The recombinant proteins were purified to homogeneity and characterized. Gox0644 and Gox1615 were dimers with native molecular masses of 66.1 and 74.5 kDa, respectively. The enzymes displayed broad substrate specificities and reduced alpha-ketocarbonyls at the keto moiety most proximal to the terminus of the alkyl chain to produce alpha-hydroxy carbonyls, as demonstrated by NMR. With respect to stereoselectivity, protein Gox0644 specifically reduced 2,3-pentanedione to 2R-hydroxy-pentane-3-one, whereas Gox1615 produced 2S-hydroxy-pentane-3-one. Both enzymes also reduced 1-phenyl-1,2-propanedione to 2-hydroxy-1-phenylpropane-1-one, which is a key intermediate in the production of numerous pharmaceuticals, such as antifungal azoles and antidepressants. Gox0644 displayed highest activities with 2,3-diones, alpha-ketoaldehydes, alpha-keto esters, and 2,5-diketogluconate. Gox1615 was less active with these substrates, but displayed a broader substrate spectrum reducing a variety of alpha-diketones and aldehydes.

Activation of the diacetyl/acetoin pathway in Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis bv. diacetylactis CRL264 by acidic growth

Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis bv. diacetylactis strains are aroma-producing organisms used in starter cultures for the elaboration of dairy products. This species is essentially a fermentative microorganism, which cometabolizes glucose and citrate to yield aroma compounds through the diacetyl/acetoin biosynthetic pathway. Our previous results have shown that under acidic growth Lactococcus bv. diacetylactis CRL264 expresses coordinately the genes responsible for citrate transport and its conversion into pyruvate. In the present work the impact of acidic growth on glucose, citrate, and pyruvate metabolism of Lactococcus bv. diacetylactis CRL264 has been investigated by proteomic analysis. The results indicated that acid growth triggers the conversion of citrate, but not glucose, into alpha-acetolactate via pyruvate. Moreover, they showed that low pH has no influence on levels of lactate dehydrogenase and pyruvate dehydrogenase. Therefore, the influence of external pH on regulation of the diacetyl/acetoin biosynthetic pathway in Lactococcus bv. diacetylactis CRL264 has been analyzed at the transcriptional level. Expression of the als, aldB, aldC, and butBA genes encoding the enzymes involved in conversion of pyruvate into aroma compounds has been investigated by primer extension, reverse transcription-PCR analysis, and transcriptional fusions. The results support that this biosynthetic pathway is induced at the transcriptional level by acidic growth conditions, presumably contributing to lactococcal pH homeostasis by synthesis of neutral compounds and by decreasing levels of pyruvate.

Heat shock treatment increases the frequency of loss of an erythromycin resistance-encoding transposable element from the chromosome of Lactobacillus crispatus CHCC3692

A 3,165-bp chromosomally integrated transposon, designatedTn3692, of the gram-positive strain Lactobacillus crispatus CHCC3692 contains an erm(B) gene conferring resistance to erythromycin at concentrations of up to 250 micrograms/ml. Loss of this resistance can occur spontaneously, but the rate is substantially increased by heat shock treatment. Heat shock treatment at 60 degrees C resulted in an almost 40-fold increase in the frequency of erythromycin-sensitive cells (erythromycin MIC, 0.047 micrograms/ml). The phenotypic change was followed by a dramatic increase in transcription of the transposase gene and the concomitant loss of an approximately 2-kb DNA fragment carrying the erm(B) gene from the 3,165-bp erm transposon. In cells that were not subjected to heat shock, transcription of the transposase gene was not detectable. The upstream sequence of the transposase gene did not show any homology to known heat shock promoters in the gene data bank. Significant homology (>99%) was observed between the erythromycin resistance-encoding gene from L. crispatus CHCC3692 and the erm(B) genes from other gram-positive bacteria, such as Streptococcus agalactiae, Streptococcus pyogenes, Enterococcus faecium, and Lactobacillus reuteri, which strongly indicates a common origin of the erm(B) gene for these species. The transposed DNA element was not translocated to other parts of the genome of CHCC3692, as determining by Southern blotting, PCR analysis, and DNA sequencing. No other major aberrations were observed, as judged by colony morphology, growth performance of the strain, and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. These observations suggest that heat shock treatment could be used as a tool for the removal of unwanted antibiotic resistance genes harbored in transposons flanked by insertion sequence elements or transposases in lactic acid bacteria used for animal and human food production.