Characterization of Arginine Catabolism by Lactic Acid Bacteria Isolated from Kimchi

• Published in: Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) Switzerland), 2018-11, Vol.23 (11), p.3049
• Main Authors: Hwang, Hyelyeon, Lee, Jong-Hee
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Ammonia; Arginine; Arginine deiminase; Bacteria; Carbohydrates; Catabolism; Citrulline; Fermentation; Fermented food; flavor; Ingredients; Kimchi; Lactic acid; Lactic acid bacteria; Lactobacillus brevis; Metabolites; Metagenomics; Ornithine; ornithine catabolism; Raw materials; Saccharides; Weissella confusa
• ISSN: 1420-3049; 1420-3049
• DOI: 10.3390/molecules23113049

Kimchi fermentation depends on diverse lactic acid bacteria, which convert raw materials into numerous metabolites that contribute to the taste of food. Amino acids and saccharides are important primary metabolites. Arginine is nearly exhausted during kimchi fermentation, whereas the concentrations of other amino acids are reported not to increase or decrease dramatically. These phenomena could imply that arginine is an important nutritional component among the amino acids during kimchi fermentation. In this study, we investigated the arginine-catabolism pathway of seven lactic acid bacteria isolated from kimchi and evaluated the products of arginine catabolism (citrulline and ornithine) associated with the bacteria. The arginine content dramatically decreased in cultures of and from 300 μg/mL of arginine to 0.14 ± 0.19 and 1.3 ± 0.01 μg/mL, respectively, after 6 h of cultivation. Citrulline and ornithine production by and showed a pattern that was consistent with arginine catabolism. Interestingly, , , , and did not show increased citrulline levels after arginine was added. The ornithine contents were higher in all bacteria except for after adding arginine to the culture. These results were consistent with the absence of the arginine deiminase gene among the lactic acid bacteria. Arginine consumption and ornithine production were monitored and compared with lactic acid bacteria by metagenomics analysis, which showed that the increment of ornithine production correlated positively with lactic acid bacteria growth.