Bacteriophages of leuconostoc, oenococcus, and weissella.

Witold Kot,Horst Neve,Finn K Vogensen,Knut J Heller

doi:10.3389/fmicb.2014.00186

Witold Kot, Horst Neve + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2014.00186

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Abstract

Leuconostoc (Ln.), Weissella, and Oenococcus form a group of related genera of lactic acid bacteria, which once all shared the name Leuconostoc. They are associated with plants, fermented vegetable products, raw milk, dairy products, meat, and fish. Most of industrially relevant Leuconostoc strains can be classified as either Ln. mesenteroides or Ln. pseudomesenteroides. They are important flavor producers in dairy fermentations and they initiate nearly all vegetable fermentations. Therefore, bacteriophages attacking Leuconostoc strains may negatively influence the production process. Bacteriophages attacking Leuconostoc strains were first reported in 1946. Since then, the majority of described Leuconostoc phages was isolated from either dairy products or fermented vegetable products. Both lytic and temperate phages of Leuconostoc were reported. Most of Leuconostoc phages examined using electron microscopy belong to the Siphoviridae family and differ in morphological details. Hybridization and comparative genomic studies of Leuconostoc phages suggest that they can be divided into several groups, however overall diversity of Leuconostoc phages is much lower as compared to, e.g., lactococcal phages. Several fully sequenced genomes of Leuconostoc phages have been deposited in public databases. Lytic phages of Leuconostoc can be divided into two host species-specific groups with similarly organized genomes that shared very low nucleotide similarity. Phages of dairy Leuconostoc have rather limited host-ranges. The receptor binding proteins of two lytic Ln. pseudomesenteroides phages have been identified. Molecular tools for detection of dairy Leuconostoc phages have been developed. The rather limited data on phages of Oenococcus and Weissella show that (i) lysogeny seems to be abundant in Oenococcus strains, and (ii) several phages infecting Weissella cibaria are also able to productively infect strains of other Weissella species and even strains of the genus Lactobacillus.

Highlights

TAXONOMY OF Leuconostoc, Oenococcus, AND WeissellaLeuconostoc (Ln.), Weissella (W.), Oenococcus (O.), and Fructobacillus (F.) form a group of related genera of lactic acid bacteria
In recent years Swedish and Danish dairies have reported problems related to lack of diacetyl and CO2 in fermented milks that could be correlated to phages attacking Leuconostoc strains (Anon. meeting reports, Vogensen, not published)
Phages of Leuconostoc, Oenococcus, and Weissella are present in many types of food-related fermentations, where they are responsible for various defects in production

Summary

Introduction

TAXONOMY OF Leuconostoc, Oenococcus, AND WeissellaLeuconostoc (Ln.), Weissella (W.), Oenococcus (O.), and Fructobacillus (F.) form a group of related genera of lactic acid bacteria. From 2002 to 2012 a number of reports on Leuconostoc phages from sauerkraut fermentations have been published, and since 2010–2012 genomes of Ln. mesenteroides and Ln. pseudomesenteroides phages have been published (Table 1). Presence of phages infecting dairy Leuconostoc strains has only been described occasionally (Sozzi et al, 1978; Boizet et al, 1992; Davey et al, 1995).

Results

Conclusion