Leuconostoc gelidum subsp. gasicomitatum is a common spoilage bacterium in meat products packaged under oxygen-containing modified atmospheres. Buttery off-odors related to diacetyl/acetoin formation are frequently associated with the spoilage of these products. A whole-genome microarray study, together with gas chromatography (GC)-mass spectrometry (MS) analyses of the pathway end products, was performed to investigate the transcriptome response of L. gelidum subsp. gasicomitatum LMG18811 T growing on semidefined media containing glucose, ribose, or inosine, which are essential carbon sources in meat. Generally, the gene expression patterns with ribose and inosine were quite similar, indicating that catabolism of ribose and nucleosides is closely linked. Diacetyl/acetoin concentrations as high as 110 or 470 M were measured when growth was based on inosine or ribose, respectively. The gene expression results for pyruvate metabolism (upregulation of ␣-acetolactate synthase, downregulation of L-lactate dehydrogenase and pyruvate dehydrogenase) were as expected when diacetyl and acetoin were the end products. No diacetyl production (<7.5 M) was detected with the glucose-containing medium, even though the cell counts of LMG18811T was 6 or 10 times higher than that on inosine or ribose, respectively. Although glucose was the most effective carbon source for the growth of L. gelidum subsp. gasicomitatum, utilization of inosine and ribose resulted in the production of the unwanted buttery-odor compounds. These results increase our understanding of which compounds are likely to enhance the formation of buttery odors during meat spoilage caused by L. gelidum subsp. gasicomitatum. Leuconostoc gelidum is a psychrotrophic lactic acid bacterium (LAB) comprising three subspecies, i.e., Leuconostoc gelidum subsp. gelidum, Leuconostoc gelidum subsp. gasicomitatum, and Leuconostoc gelidum subsp. aenigmaticum (1). During the past 14 years, L. gelidum subsp. gasicomitatum has been associated with the spoilage of cold-stored, modified-atmosphere-packaged (MAP), nutrient-rich foods (2, 3, 4, 5). It has also been reported as an important species in the fermentation of kimchi, a traditional Korean food made by fermenting vegetables at refrigerator temperatures (6). The first scientific publications on L. gelidum subsp. gasicomitatum associated it with spoilage of raw MAP meat products in Scandinavia (2, 3, 7), but spoilage cases associated with fish (8) and vegetable products (9) have also been reported. Recently, this versatile food spoilage organism has been linked to spoilage cases affecting packaged meat, vegetable, and composite foods in Western Europe (4, 5, 10).Leuconostoc gelidum subsp. gasicomitatum cannot obtain energy from glycogen, proteinaceous substrates, lactate, or fatty acids (11), and its growth is based mainly on the utilization of carbohydrates. As an obligately heterofermentative LAB, it ferments hexoses and pentoses by the phosphoketolase pathway (PKP). In marinated meat products, L. gelidum subsp. gasicomitatum ...
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