Abstract:

A haloph ilous lactic acid cocci strain w as isolated from the trad itional Chinese soy sauce koj.i The morphology, the physio log ical and b iochem ica l characterist ics and the 16S rDNA sequence of the screened strain were then analyzed, based on which the taxonomic status of the screened strain was established to lay a foundation for the role analysis of the screened strain in soy sauce brewage. The results show that the screened strain is tetrad-formed,Gram-positive, non-motile and catalase-negative, which can produce acid from glucose without gas formation, and that the yield of lactic acid produced by the screened strain reaches 2. 2% at a N aCl content of 18% . Moreover,the phylogenetic analysis of the screened strain based on its 16S rDNA sequence demonstrate that the strain is of the closestre lativity to Tetragenococcus halophilus, which basically means that the screened strain belongs to Tetragenococcus halophilus.

Key words: Tetragenococcus halophilus, 16S rDNA, phylogenetic analysis, identification, soy sauce koji