Nucleotide sequence and taxonomical distribution of the bacteriocin gene lin cloned from Brevibacterium linens M18

Abstract

Linocin M18 is an antilisterial bacteriocin produced by the red smear cheese bacterium Brevibacterium linens M18. Oligonucleotide probes based on the N-terminal amino acid sequence were used to locate its single copy gene, lin, on the chromosomal DNA. The amino acid composition, N-terminal sequence, and molecular mass derived from the nucleotide sequence of an open reading frame of 798 nucleotides coding for 266 amino acids found on a 3-kb BamHI restriction fragment correspond closely to those obtained from the purified protein (N. Valdés-Stauber and S. Scherer, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 60:3809-3814, 1994). No sequence homology to any protein or nucleotide sequences deposited in databases was found. Comparison of the nucleotide sequence and the N-terminal amino acid sequence derived from the protein suggests that B. linens M18 produces an N-formyl-methionyl-CAC tRNA. A wide taxonomical distribution of the gene within coryneform bacteria has been demonstrated by PCR amplification. The structural gene from linocin M18 is present at least in three Brevibacterium species, five Arthrobacter species, and five Corynebacterium species.

Packaging guest proteins into the encapsulin nanocompartment from Rhodococcus erythropolis N771

“…The deduced amino acid sequence showed 59%, 57%, and 35% identity with Linocin M18 from Brevibacterium linens (), Rj encapsulin (Rahmanpour and Bugg, ), and Tm encapsulin (Sutter et al, ), respectively (Supplementary Fig. S1).…”

“…The encapsulin nanocompartment is built with 60 copies of a single subunit with a molecular weight of 31 k and forms a spherical particle with a thin T = 1 icosahedral shell with a diameter of 24 nm. Encapsulin belongs to the Linocin M18 superfamily, which was first reported as a bacteriocin from Brevibacterium linens M18 (; ) but was later revised to have no anti‐bacterial activity (Sutter et al, ). The superfamily is widely distributed in microorganisms, including Actinobacteria, Proteobacteria, and Thermotogae.…”

Growth reduction of Listeria spp. caused by undefined industrial red smear cheese cultures and bacteriocin-producing Brevibacterium lines as evaluated in situ on soft cheese

“…They were characterized by using standard taxonomical markers such as sugar fermentation pattern or fatty acid analysis, which clearly showed that these strains were different (data not shown). B. linens M18 is known to produce the bacteriocin linocin M18, which has been shown to inhibit Listeria (37,38). B. linens D11 also inhibits Listeria.…”

“…Native linocin M18 forms aggregates of extremely high molecular masses (Ͼ2,000 kDa) (37) as do so some other bacteriocins such as staphylococcin 414 (11), staphylococcin 1580 (17), lactacin F (28), and helveticin J (18). The gene lin has been cloned and its wide taxonomical distribution within coryneform bacteria has been demonstrated (38). Based on this strain collection, the second aim of this study was to compare, in situ, the antilisterial activities of linocin-negative and linocin-positive strains of B. linens on the surface of red smear cheese.…”

Homomultimeric protease in the hyperthermophilic bacterium Thermotoga maritima has structural and amino acid sequence homology to bacteriocins in mesophilic bacteria

“…Here, we report the puri¢cation and characterization of a homomultimeric protease from the hyperthermophilic bacterium T. maritima [22], which has structural similarities to other proteolytic complexes, but is unrelated to any known protease. This T. maritima protease was found to have both structural and gene sequence homology to a bacteriocin from the mesophilic bacterium Brevibacterium linens [25,26], which inhibits the growth of certain Gram-positive bacteria [26]. Not only does this ¢nding imply that the mesophilic bacteriocin may be proteolytic but it also suggests that anti-microbial ecological strategies may exist in hyperthermophilic environments, although no evidence for such phenomena has yet been reported.…”