Plasmids from wine-related lactic acid bacteria

Abstract

This chapter presents a review of the most important plasmids isolated to date from wine-related lactic acid bacteria. The chapter is organised in four main parts dealing respectively with plasmids from the four genera of lactic acid bacteria found on grapes and in must and wine (Lactobacillus, Leuconostoc, Oenococcus and Pediococcus). Some of these genera, notably Lactobacillus, include a large number of plasmid-carrying strains that have been isolated from non-wine-related sources, but this chapter focuses on plasmids of strains isolated from wine-related sources. When information on the genetics (nucleotide sequence, replication mechanism, use as cloning vectors, and/or transformation procedures) of these plasmids, or their effects on phenotype, has been reported in the literature, this information is summarized here. © 2009 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg. All rights reserved.