Egan Kevin, Field Des, Rea Mary C, Ross R Paul, Hill Colin, Cotter Paul D
School of Microbiology, University College Cork Cork, Ireland.
Teagasc Food Research Centre, MooreparkFermoy, Ireland; APC Microbiome InstituteUniversity College Cork, Ireland.
Front Microbiol. 2016 Apr 8;7:461. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2016.00461. eCollection 2016.
Bacteriocins are ribosomally synthesized antimicrobial peptides produced by bacteria, which have the ability to kill or inhibit other bacteria. Many bacteriocins are produced by food grade lactic acid bacteria (LAB). Indeed, the prototypic bacteriocin, nisin, is produced by Lactococcus lactis, and is licensed in over 50 countries. With consumers becoming more concerned about the levels of chemical preservatives present in food, bacteriocins offer an alternative, more natural approach, while ensuring both food safety and product shelf life. Bacteriocins also show additive/synergistic effects when used in combination with other treatments, such as heating, high pressure, organic compounds, and as part of food packaging. These features are particularly attractive from the perspective of controlling sporeforming bacteria. Bacterial spores are common contaminants of food products, and their outgrowth may cause food spoilage or food-borne illness. They are of particular concern to the food industry due to their thermal and chemical resistance in their dormant state. However, when spores germinate they lose the majority of their resistance traits, making them susceptible to a variety of food processing treatments. Bacteriocins represent one potential treatment as they may inhibit spores in the post-germination/outgrowth phase of the spore cycle. Spore eradication and control in food is critical, as they are able to spoil and in certain cases compromise the safety of food by producing dangerous toxins. Thus, understanding the mechanisms by which bacteriocins exert their sporostatic/sporicidal activity against bacterial spores will ultimately facilitate their optimal use in food. This review will focus on the use of bacteriocins alone, or in combination with other innovative processing methods to control spores in food, the current knowledge and gaps therein with regard to bacteriocin-spore interactions and discuss future research approaches to enable spores to be more effectively targeted by bacteriocins in food settings.
细菌素是由细菌核糖体合成的抗菌肽，具有杀死或抑制其他细菌的能力。许多细菌素由食品级乳酸菌（LAB）产生。事实上，原型细菌素乳链菌肽是由乳酸乳球菌产生的，已在50多个国家获得许可。随着消费者越来越关注食品中化学防腐剂的含量，细菌素提供了一种替代的、更天然的方法，同时确保食品安全和产品保质期。细菌素与其他处理方法（如加热、高压、有机化合物）联合使用时，以及作为食品包装的一部分时，还显示出相加/协同作用。从控制产芽孢细菌的角度来看，这些特性特别有吸引力。细菌孢子是食品的常见污染物，它们的生长可能导致食品变质或食源性疾病。由于它们在休眠状态下具有耐热性和耐化学性，因此食品工业对它们尤为关注。然而，当孢子萌发时，它们会失去大部分抗性特征，从而使其易受各种食品加工处理的影响。细菌素是一种潜在的处理方法，因为它们可能在孢子周期的萌发后/生长阶段抑制孢子。食品中的孢子根除和控制至关重要，因为它们能够通过产生危险毒素而使食品变质，在某些情况下还会危及食品安全。因此，了解细菌素对细菌孢子发挥抑菌/杀菌活性的机制最终将有助于它们在食品中的最佳应用。本综述将重点关注单独使用细菌素，或与其他创新加工方法联合使用以控制食品中孢子的情况，关于细菌素-孢子相互作用的现有知识及其差距，并讨论未来的研究方法，以使细菌素在食品环境中能够更有效地靶向孢子。
