Characterization of a lactic acid bacteria strain showing antimicrobial activity against food pathogens

A search for alternative intervention strategies for fighting bacterial infections is extremely important due to the rise of multidrug resistant forms of microbial pathogens imposing a serious problem to public health worldwide. The rapid spread of antimicrobial resistance is associated with misuse of antibiotics. This may also impose a range of side/toxic effects on the host. In addition, conventional antibiotics eliminate natural (beneficial) microflora, thus leading to various complications. One popular approach to mitigate the aforementioned problem is the use of beneficial microorganisms or probiotics. Most probiotic microorganisms are bacteria belonging to the order of lactic acid bacteria. Health benefits imparted by probiotic bacteria are strain specific, and not species- or genus specific. These health benefits include antibacterial activity against pathogens, causing improvement in lactose metabolism, anti-mutagenic properties, anti-carcinogenic properties, reduction in serum cholesterol, anti-diarrheal properties, immune system stimulation, improvement in inflammatory bowel disease and suppression of Helicobacter pylori infection. Food and Beverage market research reports estimate probiotic market size by revenue to reach 69 billion USD by 2023. The objective of this project was to analyze a candidate probiotic lactic acid bacteria strain (identified as Lactococcus lactis) for the factors that dictate survival, colonization, and beneficial interactions with the host which will facilitate substantiation of the probiotic characteristics.