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Updated: Nov 8, 2025
Antimicrobial Peptides Produced by Selective Pressure Incorporation of Non-canonical Amino Acids
Published on: May 4, 2018
Nisin variants from Streptococcus and Staphylococcus successfully express in NZ9800
J N O'Sullivan1,2,3, P M O'Connor1,3, M C Rea1,3
1Teagasc Food Research Centre, Moorepark, Co. Cork, Ireland.
Aims:
Increases in antimicrobial resistance have meant that the antimicrobial potential of lantibiotics is now being investigated irrespective of the nature of the producing organism. The aim of this study was to investigate whether natural nisin variants produced by non-Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) strains, such as nisin H, nisin J and nisin P, could be expressed in a well-characterized GRAS host.
Methods And Results:
This study involved cloning the nisin A promoter and leader sequence fused to nisin H, nisin J or nisin P structural gene sequences originally produced by Streptococcus hyointestinalis DPC 6484, Staphylococcus capitis APC 2923 and Streptococcus agalactiae DPC 7040, respectively. This resulted in their expression in Lactococcus lactis NZ9800, a genetically modified strain that does not produce nisin A.
Conclusions:
Induction of the nisin controlled gene expression system demonstrates that these three nisin variants could be acted on by nisin A machinery provided by the host strain.
Significance And Impact Of The Study:
Describes the first successful heterologous production of three natural nisin variants by a GRAS strain, and demonstrates how such systems could be harnessed not only for lantibiotic production but also in the expansion of their structural diversity and development for use as future biotherapeutics.
