Abstract

V. Karthikeyan* and S. W. Santosh

Bacteriocin producing Lactobacillus plantarum strain isolated from marine shrimp (Penaeus monodon) gut, showed broad range of antibacterial activity against some major food born pathogens. Maximum bacteriocin production was observed at 50°C, pH 4 and 0.9% sodium chloride solution. The bacteriocin has purified by ammonium sulphate precipitate and ion exchange (DEAE cellulose) chromatography. Biochemically it was pure protein moiety and the molecular weight was 2.5 KDa based on the plasmid curing experiment, suggesting that the bacteriocin was a plasmid encoded protein molecule. The study revealed the possibility of using bacteriocin as a food preservative and the L. plantarum strain as probiotic.