Characteristics of the Nisin-Resistant Transformants of Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis LM0230

To investigate the nature and location of the nisin-resistance determinant of Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis 7962 (L. lactis 7962), a total plasmid DNA prepared from L. lactis 7962, a nisin producer, was used to transform L. lactis subsp. lactis LM0230, a plasmid-free and nisin-sensitive strain, by protoplast mediated transformation procedures. All of the nisin-resistant transformants acquired the ability to utilize sucrose at the same time, confirming the close linkage between these two determinants in L. lactis 7962. The plasmid DNA profiles of a few selected nisin-resistant transformants were examined by agarose gel electrophoresis. No common plasmid was found among the transformants and some small plasmids previously not present in L. lactis 7962 were detected. These transformants were named as L. lactis KL1, KL2, KL3, KL4, or KL5, respectively based on their plasmid profiles. Growth curves of all transformants were similar to that of L. lactis LM0230, but different from that of L. lactis 7962. L. lactis KL5 showed the highest level of resistance to nisin, growing up to 1, 200 IU nisin/ml after 40 hr incubation. Some nisin-sensitive derivatives of KL1 or KL2 were obtained by plasmid curing experiments. The plasmid DNA profiles of the nisin-sensitive KL1 derivatives were apparently the same as that of the KL1. All of the nisin-sensitive KL2 derivatives were plasmid-free, but a nisin-resistant strain with no apparent plasmid was also obtained. These results indicate that the nisin-resistance of the $Nis^r$ transformants is presumably mediated by the chromosomally located gene(s) rather than plasmid-encoded gene(s).