Development of a rapid method for the identification of Lactobacillus spp. isolated from naturally fermented Italian sausages by using PCR-temperature gradient gel electrophoresis (TGGE).

A rapid method for the identification of Lactobacillus spp. isolated from naturally fermented Italian sausages was developed. It is based on the amplification of a small fragment from the 16S rRNA gene followed by temperature gradient gel electrophoresis (TGGE). Lactobacillus sakei, L. curvatus, L. alimentarius, L. casei, L. plantarum and L. brevis, obtained from International Collections, were used to optimize the method. Thiry-nine strains of Lactobacillus spp. were isolated from naturally fermented sausages and, after traditional identification, were tested by the PCR–TGGE protocol developed. No differences were observed comparing the results obtained, apart from five strains identified as L. curvatus that showed a PCR–TGGE profile identical to L. sakei.