Abstract
BackgroundWhile the overall composition of the mammalian gut microbiota has been intensively studied, the characteristics and ecologies of individual gut species are incompletely understood. Lactobacilli are considered beneficial commensals in the gastrointestinal mucosa and are relatively well-studied except for the uncommon species which exhibit motility. In this study, we evaluate the importance of motility on gut colonization by comparing motile and non-motile strains of Lactobacillus agilis in mice models.ResultsA flagellated but non-motile L. agilis strain was constructed by mutation of the motB gene. Colonization of the wild type and the mutant strain was assessed in both antibiotic-treated female Balb/c mice and gnotobiotic mice. The results suggest that the motile strain is better able to persist and/or localize in the gut mucosa. Chemotaxis assays indicated that the motile L. agilis strain is attracted by mucin, which is a major component of the intestinal mucus layer in animal guts.ConclusionsMotility and chemotactic ability likely confer advantages in gut colonization to L. agilis. These findings suggest that the motile lactobacilli have unique ecologies compared to non-motile commensals of the lactic acid bacteria.
Highlights
While the overall composition of the mammalian gut microbiota has been intensively studied, the characteristics and ecologies of individual gut species are incompletely understood
It is obvious that motility is not essential for gut colonization, which raises the question of why the energy-consuming machinery is maintained, while in most other members it has been lost during evolution
The flagella were fully equipped in the mutant strain, and no structural difference was recognized between the wild type and the mutant strain (Fig. 1c)
Summary
While the overall composition of the mammalian gut microbiota has been intensively studied, the characteristics and ecologies of individual gut species are incompletely understood. Lactobacilli are considered beneficial commensals in the gastrointestinal mucosa and are relatively well-studied except for the uncommon species which exhibit motility. Lactic acid bacteria are culturable and beneficial microorganisms residing in animal guts, and their ecologies are relatively well-studied [7, 8]. Most of those lactic acid bacteria are non-motile, but a few members of the lactobacilli possess flagella and exhibit motility [9,10,11,12]. In this study we hypothesize that the motility of these lactobacilli strains contributes to colonization in the gastrointestinal tract
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