Lactiplantibacillus plantarum L3 is a strain isolated from a homemade sample of "katak" from the northwestern part of Bulgaria, the region of the town of Lukovit [1]. 'Katak' is a unique Bulgarian fermented dairy product, similar to yogurt/curd, with a specific and very pleasant acid taste [2]. The product is prepared from sheep milk, in the late summer of 2020, without the addition of starters. Its specific organoleptic properties and long shelf life (up to 1 year) are due to its traditional recipe [2] and specific indigenous microflora [3]. What is unique in this case is the combination of an initial stage of slow heating for several hours, added NaCl, and a subsequent prolonged fermentation process at low temperature (10 C) with periodic stirring. In the course of this process, lactic acid bacteria naturally enter the product, forming a not well-studied and variable, lactic acid microbiota [4]. To characterize its biodiversity, many strains have been isolated and identified [1]. (founded by FNS, Bulgaria grant No KP 06 OPR 02/16). The strain L3 was identified according to the modern polyphasic taxonomy Lactiplantibacillus plantarum. The species affiliation was confirmed with MALDI-TOF MS analyses (the project BG05M2OP001-1.002-0001). The strain possesses a broad spectrum of antimicrobial activity, including against viruses [4] and bacteria, and its functional characteristics) make it a promising candidate probiotic strain (unpublished data). The WGS of L. plantarum L3 was made by Novogene Genomics Service (Novogene Co., Cambridge, UK)., with the financial support of the grant KP 06 H36/4 by FNS, Bulgaria.
1. Dobreva, L., Borisova D., Paunova-Krasteva, T., Dimitrova, P.D., Hubenov, V., Atanasova, N., Ivanov, I., Danova, S. From Traditional Dairy Product "Katak" to Beneficial Lactiplantibacillus plantarum Strains.
Microorganisms 2023, 11, 2847. https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms11122847
2. Danova, S.; Nemska, V.; Tropcheva, R. Bulgarian yogurt-like product "katak". In Yogurt in health and disease prevention, 2017; pp pp. 307-329
3. Nikolova, D.; Hoxha, R.; Atanasov, N.; Trifonova, E.; Dobreva, L.; Nemska, V.; Evstatieva, Y.; Danova, S. From traditional Bulgarian dairy products to functional foods. In Dairy processing - from basics to advances [working title], Prof. Salam, I., Ed. IntechOpen: Rijeka, 2022; pp 14-155.
4. Vilhelmova-Ilieva N, Atanasov G, Simeonova L, Dobreva L, Mancheva K, Trepechova M, Danova S. Anti-herpes virus activity of lactobacillus' postbiotics. Biomedicine (Taipei). 2022 Mar 1;12(1):21-29. doi: 10.37796/2211-8039.1277. PMID: 35836913; PMCID: PMC9236710. Less...