Mass spectral studies were carried learn more out by SK. Genetic studies were carried out by BR and ML. MF performed whole genome sequencing. SM and JB contributed to data analysis and manuscript review. All authors approved the final manuscript.”
“Background Biogenic amines (BA) are natural toxins that can occur in fermented foods and beverages and may cause adverse health effects [1–3]. BA production in foodstuffs is mainly due to

microbial metabolism of amino acids, with lactic acid bacteria (LAB) being the primary agents [4]. Tyramine and putrescine are the BA most frequently encountered [5]. Lactobacillus and Enterococcus spp. are often implicated in tyramine formation resulting from tyrosine decarboxylation [6–8]. Tyramine production has been observed in cheeses, fermented sausages and beverages [reviewed by 2, 3] and factors that influence tyramine biosynthesis have been reported [9, 10]. A relationship between tyramine content of foods, and illnesses after ingestion, has been established [reviewed by 2]. These illnesses include headache, migraine, neurological

disorders, nausea, vomiting, respiratory disorders and hypertension. Moreover, the adherence of some enteropathogens, such as Escherichia coli O157:H7, to intestinal mucosa is increased in the presence of tyramine [11]. Bacteria can produce putrescine from ornithine, using ornithine decarboxylase [12], or, alternatively from agmatine, using agmatine deiminase [13, 14]. Putrescine synthesis was initially Mocetinostat purchase observed mainly in Enterobacteriacea, though recently it has been shown that LAB present in food and beverages

can produce this BA [reviewed by 2]. Amines, such as putrescine, can react with nitrite to form nitrosamines, which can have carcinogenic properties and are therefore a potential health hazard to humans [3]. One open question is whether BA-producers present in fermented foods and beverages are able to survive in the human GIT and still produce BA. During digestion, the pH of the human gastric Anacetrapib environment can decrease to values below pH 2. Some LAB possess high resistance to gastrointestinal stress and frequently have adhesive properties that allow them to colonize the intestinal tract [15]. We have recently shown that the dairy tyramine-producer Enterococcus durans 655 was significantly resistant to in vitro Poziotinib cost conditions which mimicked the human GIT and, it was able to synthesize BA under GIT stress conditions [16]. Possession of a functional tyramine biosynthetic pathway enhanced the binding of E. durans to Caco-2 human intestinal cells [16]. To further investigate this issue, we report here experiments with the wine strain Lactobacillus brevis IOEB 9809 [17], which possesses both the tyrosine decarboxylation and the agmatine deimination pathways [13, 18, 19]. Four genes (tdc operon) involved in tyrosine production have been identified in L.