• Food Science and Biotechnology
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.485-493
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• 2006

Lactococcus species are noninvasive and nonpathogenic microorganisms that are widely used in industrial food fermentation and as well-known probiotics. They have been modified by traditional methods and genetic engineering to produce useful food-grade materials. The application of genetically modified lactococci in the food industry requires their genetic elements to be safe and stable from integration with endogenous food microorganisms. In addition, selection for antibiotic-resistance genes should be avoided. Several expression and secretion signals have been developed for the production and secretion of useful proteins in lactococci. Food-grade systems composed of genetic elements from lactic acid bacteria have been developed. Recent developments in this area have focused on food-grade selection markers, stabilization, and integration strategies, as well as approaches for controlled gene expression and secretion of foreign proteins. This paper reviews the expression and secretion signals available in lactococci and the development of food-grade markers, food-grade cloning vectors, and integrative food-grade systems.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.16 no.11
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• pp.1799-1808
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• 2006

A food-grade integration vector based on site-specific recombination was constructed. The 5.7-kb vector, pIMA20, contained an integrase gene and a phage attachment site originating from bacteriophage A2, with the ${\alpha}$-galactosidase gene from Lactobacillus plantarum KCTC 3104 as a selection marker. pIMA20 was also equipped with a controllable promoter of nisA ($P_{nisA}$) and a signal peptide-encoding sequence of usp45 ($SP_{usp45}$) for the production and secretion of foreign proteins. pIMA20 and its derivatives mediated site-specific integration into the attB-like site on the Lactococcus lactis NZ9800 chromosome. The vector-integrated recombinant lactococci were easily detected by the appearance of blue colonies on a medium containing $X-{\alpha}-gal$ and also by their ability to grow on a medium containing melibiose as the sole carbon source. Recombinant lactococci maintained these traits in the absence of selection pressure during 100 generations. The ${\alpha}-amylase$ gene from Bacillus licheniformis, lacking a signal peptide-encoding. sequence, was inserted downstream of $P_{nisA}\;and\;SP_{usp45}$ in pIMA20, and the plasmid was integrated into the L. lactis chromosome. ${\alpha}-Amylase$ was successfully produced and secreted by the recombinant L. lactis, controlled by the addition and concentration of nisin.