Peptide degradation in Lactococcus lactis in vivo: a first exploration.

Since old, cheese is an important ingredient of human nutrition. It is only 100 years ago that it was discovered that certain bacteria - the lactic acid bacteria - play a prominent role in cheese making. Especially the modern large scale production of cheese with several hundred thousend litres throughput per day demands a reliable and stable performance of the starter cultures consisting of lactic acid bacteria. The main function of the starter bacteria is the production of lactic acid from lactose, the proteolytic degradation of the milk protein casein and, in some instances, the production of antimicrobial agents. In this way, the latic acid bacteria contribute to optimal curd formation, to the exclusion of undesired spoilage organisms and to the development of the desired texture and flavour of the cheese. Therefore, key targets of the microbiological, biochemical and genetic investigaion of these bacteria are their protein degradation system, their carbohydrate, especially lactose metabolism, bacteriophage attack and resistance, the production of bacteriocins and the mechanism of their action and the exploration of possible applications of the starter culture bacteria in new areas such as life vaccines and hosts for heterologous gene expression. The present thesis is a contribution to a deeper understanding of the proteolytic system of Lactococcus lactis and its role for growth of the organism in milk. ...

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