Purification and Characterization of Bacteriocin Produced by a Strain of Enterococcus faecalis TG2

The aims of this study were to purify and characterize a bacteriocin produced by a strain of Enterococcus faecalis TG2 and to test the safety of the strain. In this work, the active peptide was purified through precipitation with 70% saturated ammonium sulfate, cation-exchange chromatography, and gel filtration. The specific activity of purified bacteriocin was 30,073.42 AU/mg of protein, which corresponded to a 33.34-fold increase. The molecular mass of the purified bacteriocin was 6.3362 kDa determined by LC-MS/MS. The ten amino acid of N-terminal was MTRSKKLNLR and the ten amino acid of C-terminal was ATGGAAGWKS. The activity of the bacteriocin was unaffected by pH 2–10 and thermostable but was sensitive to proteolytic enzymes. The antimicrobial activity of the bacteriocin was not affected by metal ions. Tween-20, Tween-80, Triton X-100, and EDTA did not affect the bacteriocin activity and SDS was able to increase the activity of bacteriocin. Bacteriocin activity was not lost after treatment by < 8% NaCl. Inhibitory spectrum of the bacteriocin showed a wide range of activities against other lactic acid bacteria, food-spoilage, and food-borne pathogens. Ent. faecalis TG2 was sensitive to tetracycline and erythromycin but resistant to ampicillin, gentamicin, kanamycin, and chloramphenicol. Results from PCR indicated that Ent. faecalis TG2 did not harbor any virulence genes. The study suggests that Ent. faecalis TG2 and its bacteriocin might be used as bio-preservatives in food products.