Genetic diversity of Lactobacillus plantarum strains from some indigenous fermented foods in Nigeria

- The Lactobacillus plantarum isolates were from Nigerian indigenous fermented foods.
- Intraspecies differentiation was done using various molecular techniques.
- The techniques revealed the organisms as potential adjunct or starter cultures.

Lactobacillus plantarum has been found to be commonly associated with Nigerian indigenous fermented foods. The intraspecies differentiation of L. plantarum using different molecular techniques is essential for the selection of functional strains. In the present study, 48 L. plantarum isolates from some Nigerian indigenous fermented foods; (gari, fufu and ogi) were phenotypically characterized. The intraspecies diversity of 17 selected L. plantarum strains with good acidification rates, hydrogen peroxide production and variation in carbohydrate fermentation patterns were carried out using molecular techniques, 16S-23 rDNA intergenic transcribed spacer and restriction fragment length polymorphism (ITS-PCR and ITS-RFLP), randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). The ITS-RFLP-HaeIII, RAPD-OPA5, OPA20 and PFGE-Sfi1 analysis showed genetic diversity among the strains of L. plantarum isolated from the different fermented foods, and it can be established that these molecular tools are useful for differentiation of L. plantarum strains. The molecular techniques used in this study may be considered useful tools for characterization of isolates and for in-depth examination of the strain diversity as the various strains isolated in this study can be used as adjunct and/or starter cultures in food fermentation processes.