Monoclonal antibody-colony immunoblot method specific for isolation of Pediococcus acidilactici from foods and correlation with pediocin (bacteriocin) production.

BALB/c mice were immunized with broken, heat-killed cells of Pediococcus acidilactici H. After murine cell fusions, one monoclonal antibody (MAb), Ped-2B2, was selected on the basis of its positive reaction with seven of seven strains tested in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay with whole cells of P. acidilactici. The MAb Ped-2B2 did not show any cross-reactions with other lactic-acid bacteria or other gram-positive or gram-negative organisms. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and Western blot (immunoblot) analysis of surface proteins of P. acidilactici indicated that Ped-2B2 reacted with a protein of 116 kDa. MAb Ped-2B2 was used as a probe to isolate Pediococcus species from fermented-meat products by colony immunoblotting. A total of 18 Ped-2B2-reactive Pediococcus spp. isolates were isolated from eight food samples and assayed for bacteriocin production. All of the isolates produced bacteriocins which were heat stable, proteinaceous, and inhibitory to Lactobacillus plantarum NCDO 955. Biochemical characterization of these isolates indicated that they were all P. acidilactici.