Novel tomato flavours introduced by plastidial terpenoid pathway engineering.

Until recently breeding efforts centred on high-yield production while sacrificing flavour and taste quality traits of mass produced food products, such as tomatoes. The recent publication of Davidovich-Rikanati et al. demonstrates the technical feasibility of the genetical engineering of pathways in tomato plants to modify their fruit flavour profile in a proof-of-concept approach.

L-alanine auxotrophy of Lactobacillus johnsonii as demonstrated by physiological, genomic, and gene complementation approaches.

Using a chemically defined medium without L-alanine, Lactobacillus johnsonii was demonstrated to be strictly auxotrophic for that amino acid. A comparative genetic analysis showed that all known genes involved in L-alanine biosynthesis are absent from the genome of L. johnsonii.

The genome sequence of the probiotic intestinal bacterium Lactobacillus johnsonii NCC 533.

Lactobacillus johnsonii NCC 533 is a member of the acidophilus group of intestinal lactobacilli that has been extensively studied for their "probiotic" activities that include, pathogen inhibition, epithelial cell attachment, and immunomodulation. To gain insight into its physiology and identify genes potentially involved in interactions with the host, we sequenced and analyzed the 1.99-Mb genome of L.

Molecular characterization and expression analysis of the dextransucrase DsrD of Leuconostoc mesenteroides Lcc4 in homologous and heterologous Lactococcus lactis cultures.

The gene encoding the dextransucrase DsrD from the industrial strain Leuconostoc mesenteroides Lcc4 was isolated by PCR using degenerate primers recognizing conserved regions present in other dextransucrase-encoding genes from Leuconostoc spp. and Southern blot analyses on total genomic DNA. N-terminal sequence analysis of the active protein recovered in the culture showed that the secreted protein of 165 kDa is devoid of a 42 aa prepeptide which is removed post-translationally, most likely by signal peptidase cleavage.

Species specific identification of nine human Bifidobacterium spp. in feces.

Based on the 16S rDNA sequences, species specific primers were designed for the rapid identification by DNA amplification of nine human Bifidobacterium spp., namely B. adolescentis, B.

Evolution of the bacterial species Lactobacillus delbrueckii: a partial genomic study with reflections on prokaryotic species concept.

The species Lactobacillus delbrueckii consists at present of three subspecies, delbrueckii, lactis and bulgaricus, showing a high level of DNA-DNA hybridization similarity but presenting markedly different traits related to distinct ecological adaptation. The internal genetic heterogeneity of the bacterial species L. delbrueckii was analyzed.

Genetic and biochemical characterization of exopolysaccharide biosynthesis by Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus.

Lactobacillus delbrueckiisubsp. bulgaricus produces exopolysaccharides (EPSs), which play a role in the rheological properties of fermented food products. Lb.

DNA sequence and functional analysis of Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. lactis plasmids pN42 and pJBL2.

The plasmids pN42 and pJBL2 were isolated from the Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. lactis strains NCC88 and JCL414. DNA sequence determination and bioinformatic analysis revealed a strikingly conserved genetic organization containing five major, highly conserved open reading frames (ORFs).

Regulation and adaptive evolution of lactose operon expression in Lactobacillus delbrueckii.

Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus and L. delbrueckii subsp.