Genetic Engineering Strategies

Abstract

Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are widely used in food technology, and these last years an increasing number of laboratories studies their genetics in order to better know their metabolic capacities and improve them. It should be stressed out that most studies on the genetics of LAB have been done on Lactococci, mesophilic bacteria used as starters of many cheese and fresh dairy products. Most examples of the strategies that will be presented here are coming from work performed on Lactococcus lactis, even if in the last two years, some of these technologies have been successfully transfered to other members of LAB. I must also state that this course will cover most of the strategies used in the field, but with a limited number of examples for each, so that this report does not cover exhaustively the genetics of LAB, but is simply a guide for a first approach to this field.