Annie Dary

Quantitative and qualitative variability of the caseinolytic potential of different strains of Pseudomonas fluorescens: Implications for the stability of casein micelles of UHT milks during their storage

Pseudomonas fluorescens grows at low temperature and produces thermo-resistant protease(s) that can destabilize UHT (Ultra High Temperature) milk during its storage. The consequences of contamination of microfiltered milk with 9 strains of P. fluorescens on the stability of the corresponding UHT milk during storage had been investigated in this study. The strains were classified in two groups according to their ability to destabilize UHT milk. For the group of highly destabilizing strains, sedimentations of UHT milks, low values to phosphate test and the presence of aggregates were observed. Zeta potential and hydration of casein micelles decreased, whereas non casein nitrogen (NCN) and non protein nitrogen (NPN) contents increased. The analyses of NCN fraction by liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry indicated that the different casein molecules were hydrolyzed in a similar way for the destabilizing strains suggesting that the same enzyme was implicated. For the group of slightly or not destabilizing strains no visual and biochemical alteration were found. This study showed that destabilization of UHT milk by P. fluorescens was highly variable and strain-dependent.

Hydrolysis of milk-derived bioactive peptides by cell-associated extracellular peptidases of Streptococcus thermophilus

The trend to confer new functional properties to fermented dairy products by supplementation with bioactive peptides is growing in order to encounter the challenge of health-promoting foods. But these functional ingredients have not to be hydrolysed by proteases of bacteria used in the manufacture of these products. One of the two yoghurt bacteria, Streptococcus thermophilus, has long been considered as weakly proteolytic since its only cell wall-associated subtilisin-like protease, called PrtS, is not always present. Nevertheless, a recent study pointed out a possible peptidase activity in certain strains. In this present study, the stability of milk-derived bioactive peptides, e.g. the anxiolytic peptide, αs1-CN-(f91-97), in the presence of two different S. thermophilus strains with PrtS+ or PrtS− phenotype was studied. Both strains appeared to be capable of hydrolysing the αs1-CN-(f91-97) and other bioactive peptides by recurrent removal of N-terminal residues. The hydrolysis was neither due to intracellular peptidases nor to HtrA protease. Results obtained showed that the observed activity originates from the presence at the surface of both strains of an extracellular aminopeptidase activity. Moreover, a cell wall-associated X-prolyl dipeptidyl peptidase activity was also highlighted when β-casomorphin-7 was used as substrate. All of these findings suggest that, in order to use fermented milks as vector of bioactive peptides, the stability of these bioactive peptides in this kind of products implies to carefully characterize the potential action of the surface proteolytic enzymes of S. thermophilus.

Development of the recombinase-based in vivo expression technology in Streptococcus thermophilus and validation using the lactose operon promoter

To construct and validate the recombinase‐based in vivo expression technology (R‐IVET) tool in Streptococcus thermophilus (ST).