Antagonistic activity of lactic bacteria isolated from marine environment against Listeria strains

In the present work, 74 strains of lactic bacteria isolated from the marine environment were studied in order to determinate their ability to inhibit the growth of Listeria monocytogenes ATCC 7644 or L. innocua ATCC 33090. Among the 7 strains that exhibited some activity, 2 were selected for further studies and identified by phenotypic and genotypic methods as Enterococcus mundtii Tw 56 y Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis Tw 34. After neutralization with NaOH and heat treatment (100 degrees C and 121 degrees C for 5 min) the antagonistic activity of cell-free supernatants of the two strains studied remained active. Treatment with lysozime, lipase and catalase did not affect the antimicrobial activity; however enzymatic activity of trypsin abolished the inhibitory action of the supernatant, confirming the proteinacious nature of the active compound. In both cases, the titre of antilisterial activity was not affected after nisin or galactose-mediated induction. The combination of cell-free supernatants of both strains did not display antagonism or synergy. The biochemical and physicochemical characteristics of antilisterial agents produced by the selected strains suggest that they can be classified as type I or II bacteriocins. Further studies will be adressed to determine the potential use of the selected strains as bioprotective cultures in food safety control.