As the functions of probiotics within the same species may
not be shared, it is important to analyze the genetic characteristics
of strains to determine their safety and usefulness
before industrial applications. Hence the present study was
undertaken to determine functional genes, and beneficial activities
of strain LRCC5314, a bacterial strain isolated from
kimchi through comparative genomic analysis. Phylogenetic
analysis based on the 16S rRNA gene sequence showed that
strain LRCC5314 was a member of the species L. plantarum.
Whole genome size of strain LRCC5314 was sequence was
3.25 Mb long, with a G + C content of 44.5 mol% and 3,031
predicted genes. Strain LRCC5314 could metabolize hexoses
through homofermentation, which produces only lactic acid
from hexoses. According to gene annotation, strain LRCC-
5314 contained genes of EPS production and CRISPR. Moreover,
the strain contained genes that could encode a complete
biosynthetic pathway for the production of tryptophan, which
can be used as a precursor of serotonin. Notably, the tryptophan
and serotonin activities strain LRCC5314 were higher
than those of reference strains, L. plantarum ATCC 14917T,
DSM 20246, DSM 2601, and ATCC 8014, which reach tryptophan
amount of 0.784 ± 0.045 μM/ml in MRS broth and
serotonin concentration of 19.075 ± 0.295 ng/ml in HT-22
cells. These findings indicated that L. plantarum LRCC5314
could provide a source for serotonin production and could be
used as a functional probiotic for stress regulation.