Patent ID: 6833260
Filing Date: 2004-12-21
Classification: A23C,C12N,C12R,C12Y

Abstract:
A method for preparing a lactase microcarrier for hydrolyzing lactose in a liquid, the method comprising:transforming a food-grade lactic acid bacterium with a DNA construct, wherein the DNA construct comprises a lantibiotic promoter sequence operatively linked to a DNA sequence encoding a &bgr;-galactosidase; culturing the bacterium under conditions that enable expression of the &bgr;-galactosidase in an amount sufficient exhibit a &bgr;-galactosidase activity of at least 4000 Miller Units; and permeabilizing the bacterium, wherein a preparation of permeabilized bacteria equal to about 1.55 at OD600 can hydrolyze either (i) about 100% of lactose in skim milk at a temperature of about 55Â° C. within two to three hours, (ii) about 50% of lactose in skim milk at a temperature of 4Â° C. within two to three hours, or (iii) both (i) and (ii).