In vivo activities of recombinant divercin V41 and its structural variants against Listeria monocytogenes.

Recombinant divercin RV41 (DvnRV41) and its structural variants were used in this study to assess their antilisterial activities in vivo in mice challenged intravenously with Listeria monocytogenes EGDe. Treatment with DvnRV41 before and after infection permitted a conclusion as to the capacities of this peptide to retain activity and reduce growth of L. monocytogenes EGDe. Moreover, the use of structural variants for the first time in vivo and the reductions of their activities confirmed the importance of certain amino acids in antilisterial activity.

Insights into structure-activity relationships in the C-terminal region of divercin V41, a class IIa bacteriocin with high-level antilisterial activity.

Divercin V41 (DvnV41) is a class IIa bacteriocin with potent antilisterial activity isolated from Carnobacterium divergens V41. Previously, we expressed from a synthetic gene, in Escherichia coli Origami, a recombinant DvnV41 designated DvnRV41, which possesses four additional amino acids (AMDP) in the N-terminal region that result from enzymatic cleavage and retains the initial DvnV41 activity. To unravel the relationship between the structure of DvnRV41 and its particularly elevated activity, we produced by site-directed mutagenesis eight variants in which a single amino acid replacement was specifically introduced into the sequence. The point mutations were designed to change either conserved residues in class IIa bacteriocins or residues specific to DvnV41 located mainly in the C-terminal region. The fusion proteins were purified from the cytosoluble fractions by immobilized affinity chromatography. DvnRV41 and its variants were released from the fusion proteins by enzymatic cleavage, using enterokinase. The purity of DvnRV41 and of the variants was checked by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, high-performance liquid chromatography, and mass spectrometry. The antibacterial activity of DvnRV41 and its variants was assessed using different indicator strains, including Listeria monocytogenes EGDe and Enterococcus faecalis JH2-2. The activity of all of the variants appeared to be less than the activity of DvnRV41. The decrease in activity did not appear to be related to a global conformational change, as determined by circular dichroism. Overall, the variants of DvnRV41 produced in the present study provide interesting insights into structure-activity relationships of class IIa bacteriocins.

Antimicrobial activity of divercin RV41 produced and secreted by Lactococcus lactis.

Divercin V41 is a class IIa bacteriocin produced by Carnobacterium divergens V41 with a strong anti-Listeria activity. We have previously produced a recombinant form of divercin V41 (DvnRV41) in Escherichia coli strain Origami, by cloning a synthetic gene that codes for a mature divercin RV41 peptide. In this work we describe the inducible expression and secretion of DvnRV41 in the food-grade lactic acid bacterium, Lactococcus lactis. The production of DvnRV41 by recombinant L. lactis was confirmed and quantified by Western blot and ELISA assays. In addition, anti-Listeria activity of DvnRV41 was determined using an agar diffusion test. Although the levels of DvnRV41 produced by recombinant L. lactis were similar to those produced by the natural host, C. divergens V41, the specific activities were lower. In conclusion, our data show that the bacteriocin DvnRV41 is produced and secreted in an active form by L. lactis and that this approach may have important applications in the preservation of foods.