Lysogeny in Lactobacillus delbrueckii strains and characterization of two new temperate prolate-headed bacteriophages

Abstract

Aims: Frequency of lysogeny in Lactobacillus delbrueckii strains (from commercial and natural starters) and preliminary characterization of temperate bacteriophages isolated from them. Methods and Results: Induction of strains (a total of 16) was made using mitomycin C (MC) (0.5 μg ml-1). For 37% of the MC-treated supernatants, it was possible to detect phage particles or presence of killing activity, but only two active bacteriophages were isolated. The two temperate phages isolated were prolate-headed phages which belonged to group c of Lact. delbrueckii bacteriophages classification. Different DNA restriction patterns were obtained for each phage, while the structural protein profiles and packaging sites were identical. Distinctive one-step growth curves were exhibited by each phage. An influence of calcium ions was observed for their lysis in broth but not on the adsorption levels. Conclusions: Our study showed that lysogeny is also present in Lact. delbrueckii strains, including commercial strains. Significance and Impact of the Study: Commercial strains could be lysogenic and this fact has a great practical importance since they could contribute to the dissemination of active-phage particles in industrial environments. © 2008 The Authors.