The presence of S-layer proteins in Lactobacillus brevis was examined by SDS-PAGE analysis. Thirty six out of a total of 41 L. brevis strains possessed S-layer proteins of molecular masses ranging from 38 to 55 kDa. Western blot analysis using antisera raised against whole cells of S-layer protein-carrying strains demonstrated the heterogeneity of L. brevis S-layer proteins. No clear relationship was observed between the presence of S-layer proteins or their immunological characteristics and the physiological activity of L. brevis as a beer spoilage organism.

A polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method was developed for the rapid detection of the beer-spoilage heterofermentative lactic acid bacterium Lactobacillus lindneri. Three strains, the Chinese brewery isolate DA1, the Japanese commercial beer isolate BG2, and the Japanese brewery isolate SE3, which were serologically classified as belonging to L. lindneri, were used in this study. After sequencing the 16S rDNA of the isolates DA1 and BG2 and the typical beer-spoilage heterofermentative Lactobacillus brevis L63, these sequences were compared with published data. A L. lindneri specific PCR primer, DA-40, was then constructed based on the V1 variable region of 16S rDNA. The specificity of PCR using the L. lindneri specific primer DA-40 and the universal primer 907r was examined using five L. lidneri strains: the three isolates described above and two strains from culture collection, DSM 20690 and DSM 20692. A variety of beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria, including 71 Lactobacillus strains and 13 Pediococcus strains, were also included in this examination. No PCR product was obtained from any DNA with the exception of the five L. lindneri strains, indicating that the L. lindneri specific primer DA-40 was highly specific. The detection limit for L. lindneri in beer was 63 CFU/100 mL of beer.

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Certain Lactobacillus brevis strains are resistant to hop-derived compounds such as isohumulone and are able to grow in beer. In this study, we raised an antiserum against our beer spoilage laboratory strain L. brevis 578 which reacted with 23 of 24 beer spoilers and two of 13 non-spoilers in precipitation reactions using 0.5 M NaOH cell extracts. This specific antigen to the beer spoilage L. brevis strains (SABSL) was demonstrated to be located beneath the S-layer proteins by agglutination reactions using S-layer protein-stripped cells obtained by treatment with 0.1 M NaOH. SABSL was purified using an affinity column coupled with an antibody against SABSL. The purified antigen was hydrolyzed with 2 M HCl and the hydrolyzate was analyzed by thin-layer chromatography and enzymatic analysis. The results showed that SABSL contains glycerol, phosphate, glycerophosphate, D-galactose and D-glucose. D-Galactose and D-glucose accounted for 4.7% and 0.1% of the composition, respectively. Melibiose, but not mannose, inhibited the precipitation reaction. Intense precipitation reactions were obtained with fractions which did not bind to the ConA-column. These results indicate that the immunodominant component of the SABSL is galactose and the SABSL determinant is most probably a galactosylated glycerol teichoic acid. The antiserum raised against the beer spoilage strain L. brevis 578 could distinguish between Pediococcus beer spoilers and non-spoilers in precipitation reactions.

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