말로락틱 발효에 적합한 토착 Lactobacillus plantarum 분리

The malolactic fermentation (MLF), which is widely used in winemaking, is the conversion of malic acid to lactic acid conducted by the malolactic enzyme (Mle) of lactic acid bacteria. In order to select the strains with MLF among 54 lactic acid bacteria isolated from the traditionally fermented foods, we designed a primer set that specifically targets the conserved regions of the mle gene and then selected four strains that harbor the mle gene of Lactobacillus plantarum. All strains were identified as L. plantarum by analyzing the 16S rRNA sequences, biochemical properties, and the PCR products of the recA gene. From comparison of the mle gene sequences consisting of 1,644 bp, the nucleotide and amino acid sequence of strain JBE60 correspond to 96.7% and 99.5% with those of other three strains, respectively. The strain JBE60 showed the highest resistant against 10% (v/v) ethanol among the strains. The strains lowered the concentration of malic acid to average 43%. Considering the ethanol resistance and conversion of malic acid, the strain JBE60 is considered as a potential starter for the malolactic fermentation.