[Comparative study of the homology of DNA in thermophilic and mesophilic lactococcal strains of various origin].

A comparative study of DNA homology among 12 strains of thermophilic streptococci currently used as ferments in the dairy industry in different regions of the CIS and 16 strains of mesophilic lactococci obtained from different sources was performed by the method of optical reassociation in solution. These strains were found to form three groups with DNA homology generally not exceeding 30-35% between each other. These data indicate that strains commonly classified as Streptococcus thermophilus may belong to different taxa. At the same time, the DNA base composition was similar in all these strains (the G + C content was 38-40 mol %). Among 16 strains of mesophilic lactococci DNA homology was generally higher than 50%, i.e., all these strains indeed belong to the same species, Lactococcus lactis.