INLAIN   20354
INSTITUTO DE LACTOLOGIA INDUSTRIAL
Unidad Ejecutora - UE
capítulos de libros
Título:
Phages of lactic acid bacteria. Biological aspects.
Autor/es:
QUIBERONI, A.; SUÁREZ, V.; BINETTI, A. G.; REINHEIMER, J. A.
Libro:
Encyclopedia of Dairy Sciences, 2nd Edition.
Editorial:
Elsevier
Referencias:
Lugar: Oxford; Año: 2009;
Resumen:
Hugh Whitehead and Geoffrey Cox (1935) identified the first phage specific for a lactic acid bacterium at the New Zealand Dairy Research Institute. They discovered lactococcal bacteriophages as the causal agent of the complete breakdown of acid production experienced using single strain starters. Since then, phages infecting every species of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) used in the dairy industry were isolated. The first phage infecting dairy lactobacilli was isolated from sewage water in New York City and reported in 1934. Then, many Lactobacillus phages infecting strains of Lb. delbrueckii (subsp. bulgaricus and subsp. lactis), Lb. helveticus, Lb. plantarum and Lb. casei / paracasei, among others, were isolated from traditional yogurt and other fermented foods. Likewise, the first Streptococcus thermophilus phages were isolated 55 years ago in Switzerland. As Lactococcus lactis and S. thermophilus are responsible of most industrial dairy fermentations, the knowledge focusing phages from these species is more extensive and deeper. Since the discovery of Whitehead and Cox, phages of LAB have been the subject of permanent researches to understand the interaction between them and bacteria and to exploit this knowledge for the improvement of valuable LAB strains. However, the bacteriophage inhibitory effect against lactic acid starters is still nowadays recognized as one of the major and persistent troubles in dairy fermentative processes (see BACTERIOPHAGE IN THE DAIRY INDUSTRY).