title: Exploration of antimicrobial potential in LAB by genomics.
abstract: A tremendous flow of information has been created through various genome sequencing projects worldwide. So far, 128 bacterial genome sequences have been completed and 391 are under way. Many of these bacteria, including several lactic acid bacteria (LAB), are used in the production and preservation of food and feed. The major antimicrobial and biopreservative substance produced by LAB is organic acid; however, some LAB produce additional antimicrobial compounds. Among these, the bacteriocins have demonstrated great potential as food preservatives. Additionally, antimicrobial compounds different from the bacteriocins have recently been identified, of which several display strong antifungal activity. The information obtained from genomics and related technologies will have great impact on the future identification and development of new antimicrobial agents. Developments will include the identification of pathways for the production of antimicrobials and genome mining for new antimicrobial peptides.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Microbial Gene Technology, Department of Chemistry, Biotechnology and Food Science, Agricultural University of Norway, PO Box 5040, N1432 Aas, Norway. ingolf.nes@ikb.nlh.no
authors.forename: Ingolf F
authors.initials: IF
authors.lastname: Nes
authors.forename: Ola
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Johnsborg
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000494:pharmacology; D001430:Bacteriocins / Q000235:genetics; D019649:Food Industry / Q000379:methods; D005516:Food Microbiology; D005520:Food Preservatives / Q000378:metabolism; D016680:Genome, Bacterial; D023281:Genomics / Q000379:methods*; D006094:Gram-Positive Bacteria / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D019344:Lactic Acid / Q000378:metabolism*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D001430:Bacteriocins; D005520:Food Preservatives; D019344:Lactic Acid