Expression of the sweet-tasting protein brazzein in Lactobacillus spp

As sucrose has been implicated in healthrelated problems such as obesity and diabetes, awareness of a safe natural non-sugar sweetener has increased. Brazzein is the intensely sweet-tasting plant protein which consists of 54 amino acids. In this study, brazzein was expressed in Lactobacillus spp., probiotics, which are widely used in food industry. Three Lactobacillus spp. (Lb. paracasei KLB58, Lb. plantarum KLB213, and Lb. reuteri KCTC3594) were electrotransformed with pMSP3545::Braht which contains brazzein gene along with nisin-controlled expression (NICE) system. Brazzein expression in Lactobacillus spp. was confirmed by Western blot analysis. Overall, higher expression rate was obtained with nisin concentration of 25-40 ng/mL.