Project description:Lactobacillus plantarum WCFS1 was differentially fermented in 29 different fermentations according to a factorial, combinatorial scheme that included variations in growth temperature (28 or 37C), NaCl concentration (0 or 0.3M), pH (5.2, 5.8, 6.4), as well as oxygen (N2 or air) and amino acid availability (1.1 or 2x concentration).
Project description:The survival of probiotics could be strongly enhanced by delivery vehicles, but the mechanism was unknown. In this study, whole genome microarray technology was used to detect the gene expression profiles of probiotic Lactobacillus casei Zhang in the absence and presence of fermented milk in simulated gastrointestinal tract. The results showed the gene expression profiles were significantly different under these two different conditions. The change of the gene expression profile may be helpful to comprehend the role of delivery vehicles in enhancing the survival of probiotics. Twelve samples of bacterial cells in the absence and presence of fermented milk were collected at 3 h in simulated gastric juice, 4 h and 8 h in intestinal juice, 2 biological replicates were obtained in each time point. The average of the normalized expression values of the 2 biological replicates for each probe was regarded as the expression value of a predicted gene. To identify the expression pattern of each gene across different treatments, n-fold change ratios were calculated for every gene in pure L. casei Zhang versus L. casei Zhang in fermented milk.
Project description:Background: Lactobacillus plantarum is found in a variety of fermented foods and as such, consumed for centuries. Some strains are natural inhabitants of the human gastro-intestinal tract and like other Lactobacillus species, L. plantarum has been extensively studied for its immunomodulatory properties and its putative health-promoting effects (probiotic). Being the first line of host defense intestinal epithelial cells (IEC) are key players in the recognition and initiation of responses to gut microorganisms. Results: Using high-density oligonucleotide microarrays we examined the gene expression profiles of differentiated Caco-2 cells exposed to various doses of L. plantarum. In addition, the effects were correlated to monolayer permeability studies and measurement of lactic acid production. A transcriptional dose-dependent IEC response to L. plantarum was found. Incubation of Caco-2 with a low bacterial dose induced a specific response, not due to cytotoxicity or production of lactic acid, including modulation of cell cycle and cell signaling functions. Exposure of Caco-2 cells to larger amounts of bacteria, accompanied by the production of lactic acid and glucose depletion, provoked increased permeability and supposed non-specific defense responses. Conclusions: These results suggest that IEC are able to sense and react to the presence of gut bacteria. This study provides the first description of global transcriptional response of human IEC to a commensal lactic acid bacterium, and it shows the importance of choosing physiological bacterial doses to prevent the observation of non-specific host reactions. Caco-2 cells were exposed for 10h to Lactobacillus. Fourteen samples are analyzed: 4 control Caco-2, 4 Caco-2 exposed to a low dose (10) of Lactobacillus, 4 Caco-2 exposed to a medium dose (100) of Lactobacillus, 2 Caco-2 exposed to a high dose (1000) of Lactobacillus. All 14 RNA samples are labeled with Cy5 and hybridized to a common reference (undifferentiated Caco-2, untreated) RNA labeled with Cy3
Project description:Understanding how the human gut microbiota and host are impacted by probiotic bacterial strains requires carefully controlled studies in humans, and in mouse models of the gut ecosystem where potentially confounding variables that are difficult to control in humans can be constrained. Therefore, we characterized the fecal microbiomes and metatranscriptomes of adult female monozygotic twin pairs through repeated sampling 4 weeks prior to, 7 weeks during, and 4 weeks following consumption of a commercially-available fermented milk product (FMP) containing a consortium of Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis, two strains of Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus, Lactococcus lactis subsp. cremoris, and Streptococcus thermophilus. In addition, gnotobiotic mice harboring a 15-species model human gut microbiota whose genomes contain 58,399 known or predicted protein-coding genes were studied prior to and after gavage with all five sequenced FMP strains. 140 samples total. Evaluation of changes in a model community's structure over time after exposure to a consortium of 5 fermented milk product (FMP) strains.