Hyicin 3682, a bioactive peptide produced by Staphylococcus hyicus 3682 with potential applications for food preservation.

Bacteriocins are peptides produced by bacteria and having inhibitory activity against other bacteria. Many of these substances may be useful as antibacterial agents for practical applications. In this study, 21 Staphylococcus spp. isolated from pigs, dogs and bovine milk in different states of Brazil were investigated for staphylococcin production. Hyicin 3682, a bacteriocin produced by one such strain, inhibited almost all strains tested, including Bacillus cereus, Listeria monocytogenes and Staphylococcus aureus. PCR experiments showed that hyicin 3682 is lantibiotic-related, but not identical, to both epidermin and Bsa. The maximum production of hyicin 3682 (6,400 AU/ml) was observed after 24 h of growth in BHI medium at 37 °C. Hyicin 3682 proved to be a cationic, small antimicrobial peptide with a molecular mass of 2,139 Da. It exhibited resistance to low pH and to heating at 65 °C, and partial sensitivity to proteolytic enzymes. Taken together, these results suggest that hyicin 3682, the first bacteriocin characterized in Staphylococcus hyicus, has potential biotechnological applications as a food preservative. Moreover, hyicin 3682 was able to inhibit its producer strain, suggesting that an effective immune system for specific protection against hyicin 3682 is not found in its producer strain, a characteristic not described thus far for other staphylococcins.