De Novo Genome Assembly and Functional Annotation of a Novel Bacteriocin-Producing Lactobacillus plantarum Strain Isolated from Fermented Locust Beans (Dawadawa) in Kano State

Bacteriocin-producing lactic acid bacteria (LAB) isolated from traditional fermented foods represent underexplored sources of novel antimicrobial compounds relevant to food preservation and biomedical applications. Locust bean fermentation (dawadawa) in Northern Nigeria is driven by diverse LAB communities whose genomic content is poorly characterized. This study performed de novo genome assembly and functional annotation of a putative bacteriocin-producing Lactobacillus plantarum strain isolated from dawadawa samples collected from three markets in Kano Municipal LGA, Kano State, Northwest Nigeria. Following isolation on MRS agar and preliminary identification, whole-genome sequencing was performed using Illumina MiSeq paired-end technology. Genome assembly was executed using SPAdes v3.15, and annotation was performed with PROKKA and RAST. Bacteriocin biosynthesis gene clusters were identified using BAGEL4. Functional annotation of the 3.24 Mb genome revealed 3,142 coding sequences. BAGEL4 analysis confirmed two putative bacteriocin gene clusters: a plantaricin A/EF/JK cluster and a novel Class IIa cluster with no match in existing databases. In vitro antimicrobial activity assays confirmed inhibition of S. aureus, L. monocytogenes, and Salmonella Typhi by cell-free supernatants. These findings identify a promising bacteriocin-producing strain from Nigerian dawadawa with potential industrial and clinical applications, with full genome data deposited in NCBI. Keywords: Lactobacillus plantarum, genome assembly, bacteriocin, BAGEL4, Kano State.