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Poster Presentation 2-37
Lactobacillus Probiotics for the Prevention of Food Contamination
Lyudmila Tsurkan1, 2, Galina Dudikova2, Klara Tulemisova2, Ruxton Villet3, Jonathan Woodward1
1Chemical Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory P. O. Box 2008, Oak Ridge, TN 37831-6194
2Kazakh Scientific Research Institute of Food Industry Almaty, Kazakhstan, 480035
3European Biological Control Laboratory, USDA - ARS, CS90013 Montferrier sur Lez, France
Telephone: (865) 574-4653; Fax: (865) 574-1275; E-mail: tsurkanl@ornl.gov
Bacteriocins, produced by lactic acid bacteria, have been the subject of interest during the past two decades because of their ability to prevent the contamination of foodstuffs by pathogenic bacteria. Nevertheless, until recently the development of novel probiotics has received little attention. We have shown that four Lactobcillus strains, B54, B62, B64 and B90, isolated from wheat flour in Kazakhstan, effectively inhibited the growth of E. coli TG1. This inhibition could not simply be ascribed to acidification of the culture medium. Treatment of the Lactobacillus culture medium by papain destroyed the inhibitory activity. This showed that a protein produced by Lactobacillus is at least partly responsible for the prevention of the growth of E. coli TG1. Inhibition of bacterial growth was observed at protein concentrations between 5-10 µg ml-1. Data indicated that the compound(s) produced by Lactobacillus strains is a small (~ 3,000 Da) heat-resistant hydrophobic cellulose binding protein(s).
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