Partial Purification and Characterization of a Bacteriocin DT24 Produced by Probiotic Vaginal Lactobacillus brevis DT24 and Determination of its Anti-Uropathogenic Escherichia coli Potential

The emergence of antibiotic resistance has increased the interest for finding new antimicrobials in the past decade. Probiotic Lactic acid bacteria producing antimicrobial proteins like bacteriocin can be excellent agents for development as novel therapeutic agents and complement to conventional antibiotic therapy. Uropathogenic Escherichia coli, most causative agent of Urinary tract infection, has developed resistance to various antibiotics. In the present investigation, antibacterial substance like bacteriocin (Bacteriocin DT24) produced by probiotic Lactobacillus brevis DT24 from vaginal sample of healthy Indian woman was partially purified and characterized. It was efficiently working against various pathogens, that is, Uropathogenic E. coli, Enterococcus faecium, Enterococcus faecalis and Staphylococcus aureus. The antimicrobial peptide was relatively heat resistant and also active over a broad range of pH 2–10. It has been partially purified by ammonium sulfate precipitation and gel filtration chromatography and checked on reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of bacteriocin DT24 was approximately 7-kDa protein. The peptide is inactivated by proteolytic enzymes, trypsin and lipase but not when treated with catalase, α-amylase and pepsin. It showed bacteriostatic mode of action against uropathogenic E. coli. Such characteristics indicate that this bacteriocin-producing probiotic may be a potential candidate for alternative agents to control urinary tract infections and other pathogens.