Bacteriocin Produced by Lactobacillus curvatus SE1 Isolated from Kimchi

Lactic acid bacteria were isolated from Kimchi and screened for bacteriocin production. Strain SE1, identified as Lactobacillus curvatus sp., showed the strongest inhibitory activity against Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. delbrueckii. The bacteriocin was inactivated by amyloglucosidase, trypsin, or protease K treatment. However, it maintained its activity under heat treatment at $100^{\circ}C$ for 60 min. The production of the bacteriocin had a growth-related mode and decreased around the early-stationary phase. The optimum temperature for the growth of L. curvatus SE1 was $37^{\circ}C$; however, the optimum temperature for bacteriocin production was $30^{\circ}C$. The bacteriocin activity was decreased by treatment with methanol, butanol, acetone, or chloroform, however, it was not affected by treatment with ethanol, iso-propanol, or cyclohexane. The inhibitory activity of bacteriocin was stable over a wide range of pHs (2 to 11). The bacteriocin from L. curvatus SE1 killed the indicator strain by a bactericidal mode of action. The bacteriocin from L. curvatus SE1 was partially purified by ethanol precipitation and ion exchange chromatography. SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis was used to determine the molecular weight of the bacteriocin by the bacteriocin activity test. The apparent molecular mass of the bacteriocin produced by L. curvatus SE1 was about 14 kDa.