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Journal of Dairy Science Vol. 73 No. 9 2239-2251
© 1990 by American Dairy Science Association ®
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Plasmid-Induced Abortive Infection in Lactococci: A Review

Wesley D. Sing 1 and Todd R. Klaenhammer 1

1 Departments of Microbiology and Food Science, Southeast Dairy Foods Research Center, North Carolina State University, Raleigh 27695-7624

The longevity of mesophilic lactococci in dairy fermentations depends to a large extent on whether or not the strains carry effective phage-resistance mechanisms. Among the different systems that exist in lactococci, abortive infection is highly significant because it is the cell's strongest defense against the phages that most often disrupt cheese making. Phage-resistant strains that carry plasmids encoding abortive defenses have already been constructed using genetic strategies. These strains have been used successfully in commercial cheese making since 1986. Still, our knowledge of the molecular mechanisms underlying abortive infection and the means through which it retards phage development is limited. This review addresses abortive infection in lactococci relative to similar phenomena in other bacteria. Further understanding of the abortive infection process should accelerate genetic efforts to strengthen this phage defense as well as facilitate efforts to combine it with other mechanisms in the construction of specialized strains that are insensitive to attack by phage.

Key Words: lactococci • plasmid-induced infection • review

Submitted on September 28, 1989
Accepted on February 26, 1990




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