M. Piuri et al., A NOVEL ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY OF A PAENIBACILLUS-POLYMYXA STRAIN ISOLATED FROM REGIONAL FERMENTED SAUSAGES, Letters in applied microbiology, 27(1), 1998, pp. 9-13
A Strain isolated from Argentinean regional fermented sausages was fou
nd to produce and secrete a compound that inhibited growth of Lactobac
illus strains used as indicators. It was characterized as Paenibacillu
s polymyxa (P13). The antimicrobial activity, named polyxin, was obtai
ned from culture supernatant fluid of late stationary phase and was in
hibitory to actively growing cells. It was effective against a wide ra
nge of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial species tested includ
ing foodborne pathogens. Bacteriocin-like properties such as proteinac
eous nature (sensitive to proteases), insensitivity to organic solvent
s and chelators, stability to heat (up to 10 min at 90 degrees C), and
acidic pH but instability in alkaline conditions, were determined. A
molecular mass of 10 kDa was estimated by molecular gel filtration.