Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) have antimicrobial properties because they contain the existence of bioactive substances with low molecular weight. Previous studies have provided compelling evidence of the antimicrobial activity of cyclic dipeptides (CDPs)...
Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) have antimicrobial properties because they contain the existence of bioactive substances with low molecular weight. Previous studies have provided compelling evidence of the antimicrobial activity of cyclic dipeptides (CDPs) derived from culture filtrates (CFs) of Lactobacillus plantarum LBP-K10 and the highly effective antimicrobial probiotic Leuconostoc mesenteroides LBP-K06. These microorganisms were isolated from traditional Korean kimchi. The results of our research suggest that these Lb. plantarum LBP-K10 show significant efficacy against multidrug-resistant bacteria. However, there is limited literature on the various biological activities of Ln. mesenteroides and its low-molecular-weight compounds are present in secondary metabolites, exhibiting distinctive chemical structures. To address this issue, this study aims to investigate the impact of low-molecular-weight peptidyl derivatives ranging from 100 to 600, obtained from Ln. mesenteroides LabMP-A04, a newly isolated strain from Korean traditional fermented kimchi. The CFs obtained from the three-day cultured Ln. mesenteroides LabMP-A04 was extracted using methylene chloride and then fractionated through preparative-high performance liquid chromatography (prep-HPLC), resulting in 13 distinct fractions. The fractions were analyzed using gas chromatography Multi-Omics High Resolution Mass Spectrometry (GC-HRMS) with both electron ionization (EI) and chemical ionization (CI) techniques. The fragmentation patterns from EI and CI showed that the fractionated samples contained various CDPs. These included eight proline-based CDPs, cyclo(Thr-Pro), cyclo(Ala-Pro), cyclo(Pro-Pro), cyclo(Val-Pro), cyclo(Tyr-Pro), two cyclo(Leu-Pro), three cyclo(Phe-Pro), and cyclo(Trp-Pro). Additionally, one CDPs were not based on proline, cyclo(Leu-Leu) and a non-peptidyl compound, DL-3-phenyllactic acid, was identified in the fractionated fraction. A considerable proportion of the fractionated samples consisted of the most basic form of CDPs, 2,5-diketopiperazines. Based on this finding, it can be inferred that Ln. mesenteroides LabMP-A04 culture and/or its liquid-liquid solvent extracts can isolate bioactive CDPs. To investigate the proteins associated with the biosynthesis of CDPs, proteins were obtained from cultured Ln. mesenteroides LabMP-A04 cells and separated using weak-anion exchange chromatography. Furthermore, an analysis was conducted using ninhydrin staining with an amino acid substrate. The activity staining on native gels revealed colorless bands, indicating the presence of active proteins. The observed colored bands suggests that amino acids do not form chromophores. The colorless areas were excised and analyzed using 2D Liquid Chromatography Multi-Omics high-resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS). Approximately 14 proteins were identified. The study shows that proteins are linked to CDPs biosynthesis. Two proteins are being considered for investigation: branched-chain amino acid aminotransferase (BCAAT, gi: KGB51011.1) with a molecular mass of 38 kDa, and universal stress protein (USP, gi: TLP97301.1) with a molecular mass of 15.7 kDa. The gene sequences for both proteins were obtained from the NCBI Genome Database. The first protein had a nucleotide sequence length of 1,044 bp, while the second protein had a nucleotide sequence length of 432 bp. The gene sequences of both proteins were amplified using polymerase chain reaction, inserted into the pGEM T-easy vector, and cloned into the pET-15b expression vectors using NdeI/XhoI and NdeI/BamHI, respectively. The insert was then transformed into Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3) pLysS cells for efficient protein production. Protein overproduction was induced by adding isopropyl β-D-1-thiogalactopyranoside (IPTG). It was hypothesized that inducing protein overproduction with IPTG would enhance the synergistic effect by selectively synthesizing CDPs. This strategy, using recombinant proteins, has various applications in veterinary antibiotics, functional foods, and non-toxic natural food preservatives.