• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.774-783
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• 2007

In the present study, acidocin 1B, a bacteriocin produced by Lactobacillus acidophilus GP 1B, exhibited profound inhibitory activity against a variety of LAB and pathogens, including Gram-negative bacteria, and its mode of action was to destabilize the cell wall, thereby resulting in bactericidal lysis. Acidocin 1B was found to be heat stable, because it lost no activity when it was heated up to $95^{\circ}C$ for 60 min. It retained approximately 67% of the initial activity after storage for 30 days at $4^{\circ}C$, and 50% of its initial activity after 30 days at $25^{\circ}C$ and $37^{\circ}C$. The molecular mass of acidocin 1B was estimated to be 4,214.65 Da by mass spectrometry. Plasmid curing results indicated that a plasmid, designated as pLA1B, seemed to be responsible for both acidocin 1B production and host immunity, and that the pLA1B could be transformed into competent cells of L. acidophilus ATCC 43121 by electroporation. Our findings indicate that the acidocin 1B and its producer strain may have potential value as a biopreservative in food systems.

• Journal of Dairy Science and Biotechnology
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.114-119
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• 2003

Acidocin 4A produced by Lactobacillus acidophilus GP4A was purified to homogeneity by ammonium sulfate precipitation and sequential chromatographies containing Octyl sepharose CL-4B column, $C_{18}$ Sep-Pak Cartridge, $C_{18}$ RP HPLC and HPLC gel filtration. Tricine SDS-PACE resulted in a single band with estimated molecular mass of 4.1 kDa corresponding to the polypeptide weight marker. Electron microscopy of acidocin-treated indicator cells(L. delbrueckii subsp. lactis ATCC 4797) confirmed that acidocin 4A presented bacteriolytic effect, resulting in cell lysis. Curing trial using ethidium bromide (EtBr) was carried out to examine whether acidocin 4A determinant was encoded either by chromosome or on plasmid. The plasmid designated as pLA4A, being about 20 kb in size, was responsible for acidocin 4A production and immunity to host cells.