High expression of stanniocalcin in differentiated brain neurons

Lacticin 3147 is a broad-spectrum bacteriocin produced by Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis DPC3147 (M. P. Ryan, M. C. Rea, C. Hill, and R. P. Ross, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 62:612-619, 1996). Partial purification of the bacteriocin by hydrophobic interaction chromatography and reverse-phase fast protein liquid chromatography revealed that two components are required for full activity. Lacticin 3147 is bactericidal against L. lactis, Listeria monocytogenes, and Bacillus subtilis; at low concentrations of the bacteriocin, bactericidal activity is enhanced when target cells are energized. This finding suggests that the presence of a proton motive force promotes the interaction of the bacteriocin with the cytoplasmic membrane, leading to the formation of pores at these low lacticin 3147 concentrations. These pores were shown to be selective for K+ ions and inorganic phosphate. The loss of these ions resulted in immediate dissipation of the membrane potential and hydrolysis of internal ATP, leading to an eventual collapse of the pH gradient at the membrane and ultimately to cell death. Our results suggest that lacticin 3147 is a pore-forming bacteriocin which acts on a broad range of gram-positive bacteria.     

Characterization of the lacticin 481 operon: the Lactococcus lactis genes lctF, lctE, and lctG encode a putative ABC transporter involved in bacteriocin immunity

The lantibiotic lacticin 481 is a bacteriocin produced by Lactococcus lactis strains. The genetic determinants of lacticin 481 production are organized as an operon encoded by a 70-kb plasmid. We previously reported the first three genes of this operon, lctA, lctM, and lctT, which are involved in the bacteriocin biosynthesis and export (A. Rincé, A. Dufour, S. Le Pogam, D. Thuault, C. M. Bourgeois, and J.-P. Le Pennec, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 60:1652-1657, 1994). The operon contains three additional open reading frames: lctF, lctE, and lctG. The hydrophobicity profiles and sequence similarities strongly suggest that the three gene products associate to form an ABC transporter. When the three genes were coexpressed into a lacticin 481-sensitive L. lactis strain, the strain became resistant to the bacteriocin. This protection could not be obtained when any of the three genes was deleted, confirming that lctF, lctE, and lctG are all necessary to provide immunity to lacticin 481. The quantification of the levels of immunity showed that lctF, lctE, and lctG could account for at least 6% and up to 100% of the immunity of the wild-type lacticin 481 producer strain, depending on the gene expression regulation. The lacticin 481 biosynthesis and immunity systems are discussed and compared to other lantibiotic systems.     

Variacin, a new lanthionine-containing bacteriocin produced by Micrococcus varians: comparison to lacticin 481 of Lactococcus lactis

A new lanthionine-containing bacteriocin, variacin, displaying a broad host range of inhibition against gram-positive food spoilage bacteria, has been identified from two strains of Micrococcus varians isolated from meat fermentations. The new bacteriocin was purified, and its amino-terminal end and total amino acid composition were determined. The structural gene was isolated and analyzed. Variacin is resistant to heat and pH conditions from 2 to 10. Its primary sequence shows significant homology to lacticin 481 to Lactococcus lactis, which is more pronounced for the probacteriocin than for the leader sequence. Variacin, like lacticin 481, contains lanthionine and beta-methyllanthionine residues, but its leader sequence clearly resembles nonlantibiotic leader sequences. In particular, the prepeptide contains glycine residues at positions -1 and -2 of the processing site.     

Secretion of mouse alpha-amylase from Kluyveromyces lactis

We constructed two mouse alpha-amylase secretion vectors for Kluyveromyces lactis using the well-characterized signal sequence of the pGKL 128 kDa killer precursor protein. Both PHO5 and PGK expression cassettes from Saccharomyces cerevisiae directed the expression of mouse alpha-amylase in YPD medium at a similar level of efficiency. K. lactis transformants secreted glycosylated and non-glycosylated alpha-amylase into the culture medium and both species were enzymatically active. The K. lactis/S. cerevisiae shuttle secretion vector pMI6 was constructed, and K. lactis MD2/1(pMI6) secreted about four-fold more alpha-amylase than S. cerevisiae YNN27 harboring the same plasmid, indicating that K. lactis is an efficient host cell for the secretion and production of recombinant proteins.     

Cloning and sequencing of the gene for a lactococcal endopeptidase, an enzyme with sequence similarity to mammalian enkephalinase

The gene specifying an endopeptidase of Lactococcus lactis, named pepO, was cloned from a genomic library of L. lactis subsp. cremoris P8-2-47 in lambda EMBL3 and was subsequently sequenced. pepO is probably the last gene of an operon encoding the binding-protein-dependent oligopeptide transport system of L. lactis. The inferred amino acid sequence of PepO showed that the lactococcal endopeptidase has a marked similarity to the mammalian neutral endopeptidase EC 3.4.24.11 (enkephalinase), whereas no obvious sequence similarity with any bacterial enzyme was found. By means of gene disruption, a pepO-negative mutant was constructed. Growth and acid production of the mutant strain in milk were not affected, indicating that the endopeptidase is not essential for growth of L. lactis in milk.     

Mechanism of the citrate transporters in carbohydrate and citrate cometabolism in Lactococcus and Leuconostoc species

Citrate metabolism in the lactic acid bacterium Leuconostoc mesenteroides generates an electrochemical proton gradient across the membrane by a secondary mechanism (C. Marty-Teysset, C. Posthuma, J. S. Lolkema, P. Schmitt, C. Divies, and W. N. Konings, J. Bacteriol. 178:2178-2185, 1996). Reports on the energetics of citrate metabolism in the related organism Lactococcus lactis are contradictory, and this study was performed to clarify this issue. Cloning of the membrane potential-generating citrate transporter (CitP) of Leuconostoc mesenteroides revealed an amino acid sequence that is almost identical to the known sequence of the CitP of Lactococcus lactis. The cloned gene was expressed in a Lactococcus lactis Cit- strain, and the gene product was functionally characterized in membrane vesicles. Uptake of citrate was counteracted by the membrane potential, and the transporter efficiently catalyzed heterologous citrate-lactate exchange. These properties are essential for generation of a membrane potential under physiological conditions and show that the Leuconostoc CitP retains its properties when it is embedded in the cytoplasmic membrane of Lactococcus lactis. Furthermore, using the same criteria and experimental approach, we demonstrated that the endogenous CitP of Lactococcus lactis has the same properties, showing that the few differences in the amino acid sequences of the CitPs of members of the two genera do not result in different catalytic mechanisms. The results strongly suggest that the energetics of citrate degradation in Lactococcus lactis and Leuconostoc mesenteroides are the same; i.e., citrate metabolism in Lactococcus lactis is a proton motive force-generating process.     

Identification of Kluyveromyces lactis telomerase: discontinuous synthesis along the 30-nucleotide-long templating domain

Telomeres in the budding yeast Kluyveromyces lactis consist of perfectly repeated 25-bp units, unlike the imprecise repeats at Saccharomyces cerevisiae telomeres and the short (6- to 8-bp) telomeric repeats found in many other eukaryotes. Telomeric DNA is synthesized by the ribonucleoprotein telomerase, which uses a portion of its RNA moiety as a template. K. lactis telomerase RNA, encoded by the TER1 gene, is approximately 1.3 kb long and contains a 30-nucleotide templating domain, the largest ever examined. To examine the mechanism of polymerization by this enzyme, we identified and analyzed telomerase activity from K. lactis whole-cell extracts. In this study, we exploited the length of the template and the precision of copying by K. lactis telomerase to examine primer elongation within one round of repeat synthesis. Under all in vitro conditions tested, K. lactis telomerase catalyzed only one round of repeat synthesis and remained bound to reaction products. We demonstrate that K. lactis telomerase polymerizes along the template in a discontinuous manner and stalls at two specific regions in the template. Increasing the amount of primer DNA-template RNA complementarity results in stalling, suggesting that the RNA-DNA hybrid is not unpaired during elongation in vitro and that lengthy duplexes hinder polymerization through particular regions of the template. We suggest that these observations provide an insight into the mechanism of telomerase and its regulation.     

Duplication of the pepF gene and shuffling of DNA fragments on the lactose plasmid of Lactococcus lactis

The gene corresponding to the lactococcal oligopeptidase PepF1 (formerly PepF [V. Monnet, M. Nardi, A. Chopin, M.-C. Chopin, and J.-C. Gripon, J. Biol. Chem. 269:32070-32076, 1994]) is located on the lactose-proteinase plasmid of Lactococcus lactis subsp. cremoris NCDO763. Use of the pepF1 gene as a probe with different strains showed that pepF1 is present on the chromosome of Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis IL1403, whereas there is a second, homologous gene, pepF2, on the chromosome of strain NCDO763. From hybridization, PCR amplification, and sequencing experiments, we deduced that (i) pepF1 and pepF2 exhibit 80% identity and encode two proteins which are 84% identical and (ii) pepF2 is included in an operon composed of three open reading frames and is transcribed from two promoters. The protein, encoded by the gene located downstream of pepF2, shows significant homology with methyltransferases. Analysis of the sequences flanking pepF1 and pepF2 indicates that only a part of the pepF2 operon is present on the plasmid of strain NCDO763, while the operon is intact on the chromosome of strain IL1403. Traces of several recombination events are visible on the lactose-proteinase plasmid. This suggests that the duplication of pepF occurred by recombination from the chromosome of an L. lactis subsp. lactis strain followed by gene transfer. We discuss the possible functions of PepF and the role of its amplification.     

Random exploration of the Kluyveromyces lactis genome and comparison with that of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

The genome of the yeast Kluyveromyces lactis was explored by sequencing 588 short tags from two random genomic libraries (random sequenced tags, or RSTs), representing altogether 1.3% of the K. lactis genome. After systematic translation of the RSTs in all six possible frames and comparison with the complete set of proteins predicted from the Saccharomyces cerevisiae genomic sequence using an internally standardized threshold, 296 K.lactis genes were identified of which 292 are new. This corresponds to approximately 5% of the estimated genes of this organism and triples the total number of identified genes in this species. Of the novel K.lactis genes, 169 (58%) are homologous to S.cerevisiae genes of known or assigned functions, allowing tentative functional assignment, but 59 others (20%) correspond to S.cerevisiae genes of unknown function and previously without homolog among all completely sequenced genomes. Interestingly, a lower degree of sequence conservation is observed in this latter class. In nearly all instances in which the novel K.lactis genes have homologs in different species, sequence conservation is higher with their S.cerevisiae counterparts than with any of the other organisms examined. Conserved gene order relationships (synteny) between the two yeast species are also observed for half of the cases studied.     

Cloning, expression, and chromosomal stabilization of the Propionibacterium shermanii proline iminopeptidase gene (pip) for food-grade application in Lactococcus lactis

Proline iminopeptidase produced by Propionibacterium shermanii plays an essential role in the flavor development of Swiss-type cheeses. The enzyme (Pip) was purified and characterized, and the gene (pip) was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli and Lactococcus lactis, the latter species being an extensively studied, primary cheese starter culture that is less fastidious in its growth condition requirements than P. shermanii. The levels of expression of the pip gene could be enhanced with a factor 3 to 5 by using a strong constitutive promoter in L. lactis or the inducible tac promoter in E. coli. Stable replication of the rolling-circle replicating (rcr) plasmid, used to express pip in L. lactis, could only be obtained by providing the repA gene in trans. Upon the integration of pip, clear gene dosage effects were observed and stable multicopy integrants could be maintained upon growth under the selective pressure of sucrose. The multicopy integrants demonstrated a high degree of stability in the presence of glucose. This study examines the possibilities to overexpress genes that play an important role in food fermentation processes and shows a variety of options to obtain stable food-grade expression of such genes in L. lactis.     

Dual role of alpha-acetolactate decarboxylase in Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis

The alpha-acetolactate decarboxylase gene aldB is clustered with the genes for the branched-chain amino acids (BCAA) in Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis. It can be transcribed with BCAA genes under isoleucine regulation or independently of BCAA synthesis under the control of its own promoter. The product of aldB is responsible for leucine sensibility under valine starvation. In the presence of more than 10 microM leucine, the alpha-acetolactate produced by the biosynthetic acetohydroxy acid synthase IlvBN is transformed to acetoin by AldB and, consequently, is not available for valine synthesis. AldB is also involved in acetoin formation in the 2,3-butanediol pathway, initiated by the catabolic acetolactate synthase, AlsS. The differences in the genetic organization, the expression, and the kinetics parameters of these enzymes between L. lactis and Klebsiella terrigena, Bacillus subtilis, or Leuconostoc oenos suggest that this pathway plays a different role in the metabolism in these bacteria. Thus, the alpha-acetolactate decarboxylase from L. lactis plays a dual role in the cell: (i) as key regulator of valine and leucine biosynthesis, by controlling the acetolactate flux by a shift to catabolism; and (ii) as an enzyme catalyzing the second step of the 2,3-butanediol pathway.     

Natural cycloheximide resistance in yeast. The role of ribosomal protein L41

The yeast Kluyveromyces lactis is resistant to high concentrations (1 mg/ml) of the antibiotic cycloheximide. Using in vitro translation studies it was confirmed that this extreme resistance is a property of ribosomes. The resistance determinant from K. lactis was cloned into Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Nucleotide sequence analysis of the determinant demonstrated that resistance was conferred by the K. lactis ribosomal protein L41. K. lactis was shown to contain only one copy of the gene that encodes this protein and the gene was located to chromosome III. In contrast, S. cerevisiae was found to contain multiple copies of the gene for the corresponding ribosomal protein L41 which mapped to two of the three chromosomes V, XIV and VIII. Since the cycloheximide-resistance gene of K. lactis causes essentially complete protection against inhibition by the drug, it is likely to be particularly useful as a selective marker in eukaryotic gene transfer studies.     

Expression of the PAC gene of S. mutans in S. lactis

Expression of the pac gene in S. lactis were analyzed by dot immunoblotting with rabbit anti-PAc serum. The amount of PAc produced by S. lactis HL107 (pLF107) was measured. This result indicated that a small amount of rPAc was detected in the culture supernatant and cell homogenate of S. lactis HL107 (pLF107) but not in the control strain S. lactis LM0230. The amount of rPAc in S.lacits HL107 (pLF107) was six times lower than that in S. mutans Ingbritt. Expression of cloned pac gene in S. lactis was also confirmed in this result.     

Effect of citrate on growth of Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis in milk

The effect of citrate on the growth of Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis var. diacetylactis in milk has been investigated. Five strains of Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis var. diacetylactis were compared to their citrate-negative variants, which lack the plasmid coding for citrate permease. In most cases, acidification kinetics and the final bacterial concentration of pure cultures of parental and variant strains did not differ significantly. Co-cultures of parental and variant strains, however, systematically tended towards the predominance of parental strains. Citrate metabolism is responsible for this change, since the predominance of citrate-positive strains was not observed in the absence of citrate. Continuous culture in milk enabled the difference in growth rates between the parental strain Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis var. diacetylactis CDI1 and its citrate-negative variant to be quantified by following changes in the populations of the two co-cultured strains. At 26 degrees C, the growth rate of the parental strain was 7% higher than that of its citrate-negative variant. These results show that citrate metabolism slightly stimulates the growth of lactococci in milk.     

Functional display of a heterologous protein on the surface of Lactococcus lactis by means of the cell wall anchor of Staphylococcus aureus protein A

In this study, we showed that the cell wall anchor of protein A from Staphylococcus aureus is functional in the food-grade organism Lactococcus lactis. A fusion protein composed of the lactococcal Usp45 secretion signal peptide, streptavidin monomer, and the S. aureus protein A anchor became covalently attached to the peptidoglycan when expressed in L. lactis. The streptavidin moiety of the fusion protein was functionally exposed at the cellular surface. L. lactis cells expressing the anchored fusion polypeptide could be specifically immobilized on a biotinylated alkaline phosphatase-coated polystyrene support.     

Genetic aspects of aromatic amino acid biosynthesis in Lactococcus lactis

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) primers designed from a multiple alignment of predicted amino acid sequences from bacterial aroA genes were used to amplify a fragment of Lactococcus lactis DNA. An 8 kb fragment was then cloned from a lambda library and the DNA sequence of a 4.4 kb region determined. This region was found to contain the genes tyrA, aroA, aroK, and pheA, which are involved in aromatic amino acid biosynthesis and folate metabolism. TyrA has been shown to be secreted and AroK also has a signal sequence, suggesting that these proteins have a secondary function, possibly in the transport of amino acids. The aroA gene from L. lactis has been shown to complement an E. coli mutant strain deficient in this gene. The arrangement of genes involved in aromatic amino acid biosynthesis in L. lactis appears to differ from that in other organisms.     

Interactions between pairs of bacteriocins from lactic bacteria

Activity of pairs of crude extracts of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) containing different bacteriocins (nisin, pediocin AcH, lacticin 481, lactacin F, and lactacin B) was measured against 10 different indicator strains. Experiments were carried out both in liquid and on solid media. Both synergisms and antagonisms were observed. Lacticin 481 produced mainly antagonistic effects whereas pediocin AcH produced mainly synergistic effects. The use of more than one LAB bacteriocin as a combination biopreservative might be envisaged.     

Autolysis of Lactococcus lactis is influenced by proteolysis

The autolysin AcmA of Lactococcus lactis was shown to be degraded by the extracellular lactococcal proteinase PrtP. Autolysis, as evidenced by reduction in optical density of a stationary-phase culture and concomitant release of intracellular proteins, was greatly reduced when L. lactis MG1363 cells expressed the cell wall-anchored lactococcal proteinase PrtP of the PI-type caseinolytic specificity (PI). On the other hand, lactococcal strains that did not produce the proteinase showed a high level of autolysis, which was also observed when the cells produced the secreted form of PI or a cell wall-anchored proteinase with PIII-type specificity. Autolysis was also increased when MG1363 expressed the cell wall-anchored hybrid PI/PIII-type proteinase PIac. Zymographic analysis of AcmA activity during stationary phase showed that AcmA was quickly degraded by PI and much more slowly by PrtP proteinases with PIII-type and intermediate specificities. Autolysis of L. lactis by AcmA was influenced by the specificity, amount, and location of the lactococcal proteinase. No autolysis was observed when the various proteinases were expressed in an L. lactis acmA deletion mutant, indicating that PrtP itself did not cause lysis of cells. The chain length of a strain was significantly shortened when the strain expressed a cell wall-anchored active proteinase.     

Influence of carbohydrate starvation and arginine on culturability and amino acid utilization of lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis

Two strains of Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis were used to determine the influence of lactose and arginine on viability and amino acid use during carbohydrate starvation. Lactose provided energy for logarithmic-phase growth, and amino acids such as arginine provided energy after carbohydrate exhaustion. Survival time, cell numbers, and ATP concentrations increased with the addition of arginine to the basal medium. By the onset of lactose exhaustion, the concentrations of glycine-valine and glutamate had decreased by as much as 67% in L. lactis ML3, whereas the serine concentration increased by 97% during the same period. When no lactose was added, the concentrations of these amino acids remained constant. Similar trends were observed for L. lactis 11454. Without lactose or arginine, L. lactis ML3 was nonculturable on agar but was viable after 2 days, as measured by fluorescent viability stains and intracellular ATP levels. However, L. lactis 11454 without lactose or arginine remained culturable for at least 14 days. These data suggest that lactococci become viable but nonculturable in response to carbohydrate depletion. Additionally, these data indicate that amino acids other than arginine facilitate the survival of L. lactis during carbohydrate starvation.