title: Biochemical and genetic characterization of enterocin P, a novel sec-dependent bacteriocin from Enterococcus faecium P13 with a broad antimicrobial spectrum.
abstract: Enterocin P is a new bacteriocin produced by Enterococcus faecium P13 isolated from a Spanish dry-fermented sausage. Enterocin P inhibited most of tested spoilage and food-borne gram-positive pathogenic bacteria, such as Listeria monocytogenes, Staphylococcus aureus, Clostridium perfringens, and Clostridium botulinum. Enterocin P is produced during growth in MRS broth from 16 to 45 degrees C; it is heat resistant (60 min at 100 degrees C; 15 min at 121 degrees C) and can withstand exposure to pH between 2.0 and 11.0, freeze-thawing, lyophilization, and long-term storage at 4 and -20 degrees C. The bacteriocin was purified to homogeneity by ammonium sulfate precipitation, gel filtration, cation-exchange, hydrophobic-interaction, and reverse-phase liquid chromatography. The sequence of 43 amino acids of the N terminus was obtained by Edman degradation. DNA sequencing analysis of a 755-bp region revealed the presence of two consecutive open reading frames (ORFs). The first ORF encodes a 71-amino-acid protein containing a hydrophobic N-terminal sec-dependent leader sequence of 27 amino acids followed by the amino acid sequence corresponding to the purified and sequenced enterocin P. The bacteriocin is apparently synthesized as a prepeptide that is cleaved immediately after the Val-Asp-Ala residues (positions -3 to -1), resulting in the mature bacteriocin consisting of 44 amino acids, and with a theoretical molecular weight of 4,493. A second ORF, encoding a putative immunity protein composed of 88 amino acids with a calculated molecular weight of 9,886, was found immediately downstream of the enterocin P structural gene. Enterocin P shows a strong antilisterial activity and has the consensus sequence found in the pediocin-like bacteriocins; however, enterocin P is processed and secreted by the sec-dependent pathway.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Nutrición y Bromatología III, Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad Complutense, Madrid, Spain. Luis.Cintas@nlh10.nlh.no
authors.forename: L M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Cintas
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Casaus
authors.forename: L S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Håvarstein
authors.forename: P E
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Hernández
authors.forename: I F
authors.initials: IF
authors.lastname: Nes
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001419:Bacteria / Q000187:drug effects; D001430:Bacteriocins / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000494:pharmacology; D001483:Base Sequence; D016984:Enterococcus faecium / Q000737:chemistry*; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data
chemical_list: D001430:Bacteriocins