Streptococcus spp. are major mastitis pathogens present in dairy products, which produce a variety of virulence factors that are involved in streptococcal pathogenicity. These include neuraminidase, pyrogenic exotoxin, and M protein, and in addition they might produce bacteriocins and antibiotic-resistance proteins. Unjustifiable misuse of antimicrobials has led to an increase in antibiotic-resistant bacteria present in foodstuffs. Identification of the mastitis-causing bacterial strain, as well as determining its antibiotic resistance and sensitivity is crucial for effective therapy. The present work focused on the LC-ESI-MS/MS (liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry) analysis of tryptic digestion peptides from mastitis-causing Streptococcus spp. isolated from milk. A total of 2706 non-redundant peptides belonging to 2510 proteins was identified and analyzed. Among them, 168 peptides were determined, representing proteins that act as virulence factors, toxins, anti-toxins, provide resistance to antibiotics that are associated with the production of lantibiotic-related compounds, or play a role in the resistance to toxic substances. Protein comparisons with the NCBI database allowed the identification of 134 peptides as specific to Streptococcus spp., while two peptides (EATGNQNISPNLTISNAQLNLEDKNK and DLWC*NM*IIAAK) were found to be species-specific to Streptococcus dysgalactiae. This proteomic repository might be useful for further studies and research work, as well as for the development of new therapeutics for the mastitis-causing Streptococcus strains.
Keywords: LC–ESI–MS/MS; Streptococcus spp; characterization of antibiotic resistance peptides; lantibiotic production; mass spectrometry; proteomics; virulence factors.