MEDIA OPTIMIZATION FOR THE BACTERIOCIN PRODUCTION OF LACTOBACILLUS PLANTARUM BLN39 AGAINST MYCOBACTERIUM FORTUITUM

Abstract

Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB) is a diverse group of gram positive bacteria which grabs the
researchers attention in recent times due to due to their Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS)
status. Bacteriocins of LAB found numerous applications in food and dairy industries as they are
pH and heat stable, easy to produce and retains their activity after storage. Bacteriocin
production by LAB highly depends on the culture condition, physicochemical properties, media
composition, etc., In media composition, carbon and nitrogen sources, tween concentration are
essential for the bacteriocin production. Most commonly, de Man Rogosa Sharpe (MRS) broth is
the medium of choice for the LAB ferementation process. However, this medium is quite
expensive and provides hindrance to the large scale economical production of bacteriocin from
LAB. There is always a necessity to find an alternative and cheapest source of carbon and
nitrogen source and optimization of media composition for the effective bacteriocin production.
Mycobacterium fortuitum is one of the rapidly growing non tuberculous mycobacteria which
causes diseases in humans includes pulmonary diseases, skin, joints and bone infections and
disseminated diseases, etc., The treatment for M. fortuitum disease involves multiple antibiotics,
long course treatment and drug related toxicities. This necessitates the development of new drug
candidates against M. fortuitum. In this study, eight different media were prepared by
supplementing and replacing the existing carbon and nitrogen source with molasses and saw dust
and with 2X composition of existing carbon source and tween 80. Lactobacillus plantarum
BLN39 was subjected to grown in this different optimized media and their arbitrary unit (AU/ml)
was calculated by screening L. plantarum BLN39 against M. fortuitum. Among eight different
media optimized, MRS broth supplemented with molasses showed 1600 AU/ml which is double
the AU/ml obtained for neat MRS broth (800 AU/ml). MRS broth supplemented with saw dust
and MRS broth with 2X tween 80 showed the same AU/ml as of neat MRS broth. Hence,
molasses proved as an effective and cheapest supplement for the bacteriocin production of L.
plantarum BLN39 against M. fortuitum.
Keywords: Lactobacillus plantarum, Mycobacterium