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Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, June 2008, p. 1917-1923, Vol. 52, No. 6
0066-4804/08/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AAC.01409-07
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Production of Enterocins L50A, L50B, and IT, a New Enterocin, by Enterococcus faecium IT62, a Strain Isolated from Italian Ryegrass in Japan

Laboratoire de Chimie Analytique et Sciences de l'Aliment, IPHC-DSA, ULP, CNRS, 74 route du Rhin, 67400 Illkirch-Graffenstaden, France,¹ Laboratoire de Spectrométrie de Masse Bioorganique, IPHC-DSA, ULP, CNRS, 25 rue Becquerel, 67087 Strasbourg, France,² National Institute of Livestock and Grassland Science, Functional Feed Research Team, Nasushiobara, Tochigi 329-2793, Japan³

Received 31 October 2007/ Returned for modification 27 February 2008/ Accepted 30 March 2008

Enterococcus faecium IT62, isolated from ryegrass in Japan, was shown to produce three different bacteriocins, two of which had molecular masses and amino acid sequences that corresponded to those of enterocin L50A and enterocin L50B. These peptides existed, however, as chemically modified forms that were either N formylated or N formylated and oxidized at Met²⁴. The third bacteriocin, named enterocin IT, had a molecular mass of 6,390 Da, was made up of 54 amino acids, and did not correspond to any known bacteriocin. However, enterocin IT was identical to the C-terminal part of the 16-amino-acid-longer bacteriocin 32 (T. Inoue, H. Tomita, and Y. Ike, Antimicrob. Agents Chemother., 50:1202-1212, 2006). For the first time, the antimicrobial activity spectra for enterocins L50A and L50B were determined separately and included a wide range of gram-positive bacteria but also a few gram-negative strains that were weakly sensitive. Slight differences in the activities of enterocins L50A and L50B were observed, as gram-positive bacteria showed an overall higher level of sensitivity to L50A than to L50B, as opposed to gram-negative ones. Conversely, enterocin IT showed a very narrow antimicrobial spectrum that was limited to E. faecium strains, one strain of Bacillus subtilis, and one strain of Lactococcus lactis. This study showed that E. faecium IT62, a grass-borne strain, produces bacteriocins with very different activity features and structures that may be found in strains associated with food or those of clinical origin, which demonstrates that a particular enterocin structure may be widespread and not related to the producer's origin.

Published ahead of print on 7 April 2008.