Open AccessEffect of carnitines on Lactobacillus plantarum subjected to osmotic stress
Author(s) -
Kets Edwin P.W,
Bont Jan A.M
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
fems microbiology letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.899
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1574-6968
pISSN - 0378-1097
DOI - 10.1111/j.1574-6968.1997.tb10194.x
Subject(s) - lactobacillus plantarum , chemistry , osmotic shock , lactobacillus , medicine , lactic acid , food science , biology , bacteria , biochemistry , fermentation , genetics , gene
We investigated the effect of carnitine analogues on the physiology of Lactobacillus plantarum subjected to salt stress. Salt stressed cells of L. plantarum accumulated exogenously provided carnitine and its structural analogues acetylcarnitine and propionylcarnitine to maximum concentrations of 466, 122 and 75 μmol (g dry weight of cells) −1 , respectively. Addition of these carnitines to osmotically stressed medium increased growth rate. Furthermore, the intracellular amino acid pool, consisting of mainly aspartate and glutamate, was reduced when carnitine, acetylcarnitine or propionylcarnitine were included in the medium. This is the first study demonstrating a role for β‐substituted acylcarnitine esters in osmoadaptation of a lactic acid bacterium.