Genomic organization of lactic acid bacteria phages

Abstract

The infection of lactic acid bacteria starter cultures by bacteriophages is one of the most common causes of slow or incomplete fermentation in the dairy industry. Given the magnitude of the problem and its economic impact, considerable research has been undertaken on lactic acid bacteria phages. In recent years, numerous projects for the determination of the complete nucleotide sequence of lactobacilli and lactococci phage genomes were carried out. Functions have been assigned to the products of several open reading frames. The genome of the phages has a modular organization. It is divided in several regions, each involved in one step of the phage life cycle: integration/excision, replication, production of structural proteins, assembly, packaging of the DNA and release of the phage outside the cell after the host lysis.