The contribution of abortive infection to preventing populations of Lactococcus lactis from succumbing to infections with bacteriophage.

ABSTRACT: In the dairy industry bacteriophage (phage) contamination significantly impairs the production and quality of products like yogurt and cheese. To combat this issue, the strains of bacteria used as starter cultures possess mechanisms that make them resistant to phage infection, such as envelope resistance, or processes that render them immune to phage infection, such as restriction-modification and CRISPR-Cas. Lactococcus lactis, used to manufacture cheese and other dairy products, can also block the reproduction of infecting phages by abortive infection (Abi), a process in which phage-infected cells die before the phage replicate. We employ mathematical-computer simulation models and experiments with two Lactococcus lactis strains and two lytic phages to investigate the conditions under wh

SUBMITTER: Rodriguez-Roman E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10984412 | biostudies-literature | 2024

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature