AUTHOR=Munsch-Alatossava Patricia , Alatossava Tapani 

TITLE=The extracellular phage-host interactions involved in the bacteriophage LL-H infection of Lactobacillus delbrueckii ssp. lactis ATCC 15808

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=4

YEAR=2013

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2013.00408

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2013.00408

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<p>The complete genome sequence of <italic>Lactobacillus</italic> bacteriophage LL-H was determined in 1996. Accordingly, LL-H has been used as a model phage for the infection of dairy <italic>Lactobacillus</italic>, specifically for thermophilic <italic>Lactobacillus delbrueckii</italic> ssp. <italic>lactis</italic> host strains, such as ATCC 15808. One of the major goals of phage LL-H research consisted of the characterization of the first phage-host interactions at the level of phage adsorption and phage DNA injection steps to determine effective and practical methods to minimize the risks associated with the appearance and attack of phages in the manufacture of yogurt, and Swiss or Italian hard type cheeses, which typically use thermophilic lactic acid bacteria starter cultures containing <italic>L. delbrueckii</italic> strains among others. This mini review article summarizes the present data concerning (i) the special features, particle structure, and components of phage LL-H and (ii) the structure and properties of lipoteichoic acids (LTAs), which are the phage LL-H receptor components of <italic>L. delbrueckii</italic> ssp. <italic>lactis</italic> host strains. Moreover, a model of the first, extracellular, phage-host interactions for the infection of <italic>L. delbrueckii</italic> ssp. <italic>lactis</italic> ATCC 15808 by phage LL-H is presented and further discussed.</p>