A bile salt hydrolase gene of Lactobacillus plantarum BBE7 with high cholesterol-removing activity

Sixteen Lactobacillus strains were screened using a plate agar containing glycodeoxycholic acid or taurodeoxycholic acid and quantitative BSH assay method, along with cholesterol-removing properties in vitro. Most BSH-positive strains tested were more efficient in hydrolyzing glycoconjugated bile salts than tauroconjugated bile salts. Among these strains, Lactobacillus plantarum isolate BBE7 had a relatively high BSH activity toward both bile salts and a higher cholesterol-removing activity (about 72.8 %) from cholesterol (100 mu g/mL)-containing MRS culture, as compared with other tested strains. The bsh gene of this strain composed of about 43 kDa protein was cloned, sequenced, and overexpressed in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3). The bsh gene contained a single ORF of 975 nucleotides flanked by a methionine start codon and translational termination codon and encoded a 324-amino-acid protein.