An overview of the mosaic bacteriocin pln loci from Lactobacillus plantarum

The pln locus responsible for bacteriocin biosynthesis in Lactobacillus plantarum C11 was first unraveled about 15 years ago and since then different strains of L. plantarum (NC8, WCFS1, J23 and J51) have been found to harbor mosaic pln loci in their genomes. Each locus is of 18-19 kb and contains 22-25 genes organized into 5-6 operons. Together these strains produce four different class IIb two-peptide bacteriocins, plantaricins EF, JK, NC8 and J51 and a pheromone peptide plantaricin A with antimicrobial activity. Their production has been found to be regulated through a quorum-sensing based network consisting of a secreted peptide pheromone. a membrane-located sensor and one or two transcription regulators. The individual loci each contain a set of semi-conserved regulated promoters with subtle differences necessary for the regulators to regulate their promoter activity individually with respect to timing and strength. These subtle differences in the promoters are highly conserved across the different pln loci, in a functionally related manner. In this review we will discuss various aspects of these bacteriocin loci with special focus on their mosaic genetic composition, gene regulation and mode of action. We also present a novel pln locus containing a transposon of the MULE superfamily, a mobile element which has not been described in L. plantarum before. (C) 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.