Journal
ANTONIE VAN LEEUWENHOEK INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF GENERAL AND MOLECULAR MICROBIOLOGY
Volume 90, Issue 3, Pages 269-280Publisher
SPRINGER
DOI: 10.1007/s10482-006-9081-y
Keywords
Streptococcus salivarius; megaplasmid; Bacteriocins; lantibiotics
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Streptococcus salivarius strains commonly produce bacteriocins as putative anti-competitor or signalling molecules. Here we report that bacteriocin production by the oral probiotic strain S. salivarids K12 is encoded by a large (ca. 190 kb) plasmid. Oral cavity transmission of the plasmid from strain K12 to a plasmid-negative variant of this' bacterium was demonstrated in two subjects. Tests of additional S. salivarius strains showed large (up to ca. 220 kb) plasmids present in bacteriocin-producing isolates. Various combinations (up to 3 per plasmid) of loci encoding the known streptococcal lantibiotics salivaricin A, salivaricin, B, streptin and SA-FF22 were localised to these plasmids. Since all bacteriocin-producing strains of S. salivarius. tested to date appear to harbour plasmids, it appears that they may function as mobile repositories for bacteriocin loci, especially those of the lantibiotic class.
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