Effects of the Peptide Pheromone Plantaricin A and Cocultivation with Lactobacillus sanfranciscensis DPPMA174 on the Exoproteome and the Adhesion Capacity of Lactobacillus plantarum DC400

<jats:title>ABSTRACT</jats:title> <jats:p> This study aimed at investigating the extracellular and cell wall-associated proteins (exoproteome) of <jats:named-content content-type="genus-species">Lactobacillus plantarum</jats:named-content> DC400 when cultivated on modified chemically defined medium (CDM) supplemented with the chemically synthesized pheromone plantaricin A (PlnA) or cocultured with <jats:named-content content-type="genus-species">L. plantarum</jats:named-content> DPPMA20 or <jats:named-content content-type="genus-species">Lactobacillus sanfranciscensis</jats:named-content> DPPMA174. Compared to monoculture, two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE) analysis showed that the exoproteome of <jats:named-content content-type="genus-species">L. plantarum</jats:named-content> DC400 was affected by PlnA and cocultivation with strains DPPMA20 and, especially, DPPMA174. The highest similarity of the 2-DE maps was found between DC400 cells cultivated in monoculture and in coculture with strain DPPMA20. Almost all extracellular proteins (22 spots) and cell wall-associated proteins (40 spots) which showed decreased or increased levels of synthesis during growth in CDM supplemented with PlnA and/or in coculture with strain DPPMA20 or DPPMA174 were identified. On the basis of the sequences in the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes database, changes to the exoproteome concerned proteins involved in quorum sensing (QS), the transport system, stress response, carbohydrate metabolism and glycolysis, oxidation/reduction processes, the proteolytic system, amino acid metabolism, cell wall and catabolic processes, and cell shape, growth, and division. Cultivation with PlnA and cocultivation with strains DPPMA20 and, especially, DPMMA174 markedly increased the capacity of <jats:named-content content-type="genus-species">L. plantarum</jats:named-content> DC400 to form biofilms, to adhere to human Caco-2 cells, and to prevent the adhesion of potential intestinal pathogens. These phenotypic traits were in part related to oversynthesized moonlighting proteins (e.g., DnaK and GroEL, pyruvate kinase, enolase, and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase) in response to QS mechanisms and interaction with <jats:named-content content-type="genus-species">L. plantarum</jats:named-content> DPPMA20 and, especially, <jats:named-content content-type="genus-species">L. sanfranciscensis</jats:named-content> DPPMA174. </jats:p>