ABSTRACT
This study aimed to isolate and identify Lactobacillus in the honey stomach of honeybee Apis dorsata. Samples of honeybee were collected from A. dorsata colonies in different bee trees and Lactobacillus bacteria isolated from honey stomachs. Ninety two isolates were Gram-stained and tested for catalase reaction. By using bacterial universal primers, the 16S rDNA gene from DNA of bacterial colonies amplified with polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Forty-nine bacterial 16S rDNA gene were sequenced and entrusted in GenBank. Phylogenetic analysis showed they were different phylotypes of Lactobacillus. Two of them were most closely relevant to the previously described species Lactobacillus plantarum. Other two phylotypes were identified to be closely related to Lactobacillus pentosus. However, only one phylotype was found to be distantly linked to the Lactobacillus fermentum. The outcomes of the present study indicated that L. plantarum, L. pentosus, and L. fermentum were the dominant lactobacilli in the honey stomach of honeybee A. dorsata collected during the dry season from Malaysia forest area - specifically "Melaleuca in Terengganu".
Subject(s)
Animals , Bees/microbiology , Lactobacillus/classification , Lactobacillus/isolation & purification , Cluster Analysis , DNA, Bacterial/chemistry , DNA, Bacterial/genetics , DNA, Ribosomal/chemistry , DNA, Ribosomal/genetics , Lactobacillus/genetics , Malaysia , Molecular Sequence Data , Phylogeny , /genetics , Sequence Analysis, DNA , Stomach/microbiologyABSTRACT
Background: L-glutamic acid, the principal excitatory neurotransmitter in the brain and an important intermediate in metabolism acts as a precursor of γ-amino butyric acid (GABA). In the present study, culture condition for enhanced glutamic acid production by Lactobacillus plantarum MNZ was optimized and the influence of such conditions on GABA production was evaluated. Results: Results indicated that glutamic acid increased up to 3-fold (3.35) under the following condition: pH 4.5, temperature 37ºC, 12% (w/v) glucose and 0.7% (w/v) ammonium nitrate; whilst GABA production was enhanced up to 10-fold under the following condition: pH 4.5, temperature 37ºC, 6% (w/v) glucose and 0.7% (w/v) ammonium nitrate. Conclusions: This is the first report for dual biosynthesizing activities of a lactic acid bacterium for the production of glutamic acid and GABA. The results of this study can be further used for developing functional foods rich inglutamic acid and subsequently GABA as a bioactive compound.