Research Advances on Interaction between Lactococcus lactis Bacteriophage and Their Hosts

Fermented dairy products rely primarily on lactic acid bacteria to acidify milk and form unique flavors. However,the susceptibility of lactic acid bacteria to phage infection results in slow or even failure of dairy fermentation,which causes huge economic losses to the dairy industry. Lactococcus lactis is a lactic acid bacteria widely used in the fermented dairy industry. At present,research on the structural analysis of receptor molecules of the Lactococcus lactis host and the corresponding phage-encoded receptor-binding proteins has made some progress. These Lactococcus lactis model systems are expanding toward understanding phage-host interactions of other lactic acid bacteria and revealing the similarities and differences between these interactions. In this paper,the interactions between the currently discovered Lactococcus lactis phage and their hosts,and explored the research progress of the main components of receptors and the genes encoding receptor-binding proteins are reviewed,which provides a theoretical basis for studying the phage populations and control measures of other lactic acid bacteria.