Determination of bacteriocin genes and antimicrobial activity of Lactiplantibacillus plantarum isolated from feta cheese samples.

In this study designed to isolate lactic acid bacteria (LAB) with bacteriocin production potential, white cheese samples were collected from different provinces of Turkey and isolation was carried out. A series of experiments were carried out for the main purpose and the actual bacteriocin producers were identified by detecting the genes encoding this bacteriocin. The experiments carried out in this direction were initially carried out with 20 isolates and as a result of various experiments, the number of isolates was reduced to 8 and the study was continued with 8 isolates. In order to determine that the eight isolates identified as a result of a phenotypic and biochemical characterization study were true bacteriocin-producing strains, their antibacterial activity was investigated and then the presence of bacteriocin genes was examined by specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using gene-specific primers. As a result, MS16 coded Lactiplantibacillus plantarum OR922652 was found to have strong antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumonia, Yersinia enterocolitica, Listeria monocytogenes, Bacillus cereus, and Staphylococcus aureus; the isolate was susceptible to clinically important antibiotics (ciprofloxacin, gentamicin, penicillin G, ampicillin, chloramphenicol, and vancomycin) and resistant to erythromycin, had no hemolytic activity and possessed plnA and plnD genes encoding bacteriocin production. In conclusion, the MS16 coded L. plantarum isolate has emerged as a promising strain that can be used especially in the health field and in the food industry related to LAB.