Production of Bacteriocin by Various Strains of Pediococcus acidilacti during Batch Fermentation and Identification of the Pediocin Structural Genes

Bacteriocins are antimicrobial peptides produced by certain bacteria that can be alternatives to traditional antibiotics. This study aimed at evaluating large-scale bacteriocin production by the Pediococcus acidilactici strains in batch fermentation and to analyze the pediocin structural gene (papA) by bioinformatic methods. The fermentation using bacterial strains was carried out in Sartorius Biostat A-Plus Bioreactor, and the bacteriocin production was tested on Listeria innocua as a result of 24 h fermentation. The pediocin structural gene papA was amplified, and the amplicons of each strain were sequenced and analyzed to assess the secondary structure of pediocin and related metabolic pathways. It was shown that the papA structural gene sequence is a conserved region. All strains with a papA amplicon synthesis exhibited active bacteriocin synthesis Keywords: fermentation, Pediococcus acidilactici, purified bacteriocin, pediocin structural gene Funding - The authors acknowledge the grant support by the National Institutes of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (BIOTECH), Laguna, Philippines.