Bacillus probiotics: spore germination in the gastrointestinal tract.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Casula G
PROVIDER: S-EPMC127533 | biostudies-literature | 2002 May
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Publications
Bacillus probiotics: spore germination in the gastrointestinal tract.
Casula Gabriella G Cutting Simon M SM
Applied and environmental microbiology 20020501 5
Spores of Bacillus species are being used commercially as probiotics and competitive exclusion agents. Unlike the more commonly used Lactobacillus-type probiotics, spores are dormant life forms. To address how spore probiotics might function we have investigated whether spores can germinate in the gastrointestinal tract by using a murine model. Using a genetically engineered chimeric gene, ftsH-lacZ, which is strongly expressed only in vegetative cells, we have developed a sensitive competitive ...[more]
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