Bacteriophages of Lactic Acid Bacteria,

ANA RODRÍGUEZ GONZÁLEZ, PILAR GARCÍA, AND RAÚL R. RAYA

Biotechnology of Lactic Acid Bacteria. Novel Applications

Wiley-Blackwell, a John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Publication

Lugar: 2121 State Avenue, Ames, Iowa 50014-8300, USA; Año: 2010; p. 111 - 124

Due to their important economical impact on faulty food fermentation processes, many virulent and temperate bacteriophages of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) have been thoroughly characterized. To date, 47 complete genome sequences are available in databases. Five natural phage resistance mechanisms in many LAB strains have been described: adsorption inhibition, blocking of DNA penetration, restriction modification systems, acquired phage resistance mediated by clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats systems, and abortive infection. Molecular genetics has been applied in the analysis of phage-host Relationship and in strain improvement programs. An overview of the biology, morphology, genomic organization, and molecular analysis of the temperate bacteriophage A2, one of the best Lactobacillus characterized phage, is presented.