<i>In Silico</i> Analysis Highlights the Diversity and Novelty of Circular Bacteriocins in Sequenced Microbial Genomes
Bingyue Xin, Hualin Liu, Jinshui Zheng, Chuanshuai Xie, Ying Gao, Dadong Dai, Donghai Peng, Lifang Ruan, Huanchun Chen, Ming Sun
Abstract
Circular bacteriocins are promising biopreservatives, and it is important to identify more novel circular bacteriocins to enhance the current arsenal of antimicrobials. In this study, we used an in silico approach to identify a large number of novel circular bacteriocins and classified these bacteriocins into 28 groups rather than the 2 groups that were described in previous studies. Nineteen groups were novel and had low similarity (less than 50%) to any known precursor peptides of circular bacteriocins; this finding greatly expands the awareness of the novelty and diversity of circular bacteriocins. A novel circular bacteriocin which we named cerecyclin was identified in the B. cereus group; this circular bacteriocin had great antimicrobial activity against some foodborne pathogens and showed extreme stability. This study not only identified a promising food biopreservative but also provided a rich source for the identification of novel circular bacteriocins and the development of new biopreservatives.