Canine intestinal lactic acid bacteria agglutinated with concanavalin A

Twenty-six out of 46 representative lactic acid bacteria (LAB) that we isolated from 36 dogs in a previous study were agglutinated by concanavalin A (ConA) at a concentration of 0.1563 mg/ml, while isolates did not agglutinate without the addition of ConA. Amongst the isolates, L. reuteri, L. mucosae, and E. canintestini agglutinated strongly, while L. gallinarum, L. kitasatonis, L. acidophilus, L. saerimneri, B. animalis ssp. animalis, P. acidilactici, and E. hirae did not agglutinate. ConA-agglutination of LAB was specifically inhibited by D-glucose, D-galactose, and D-mannose at a concentration of 1.563 mg/ml. Among the sugars, ConA-agglutination was strongly inhibited by D-mannose, while the inhibition level by D-glucose and D-galactose were lower than that of D-mannose. ConA- agglutination of all the LAB isolates was inhibited by D-mannose, except for L. reuteri (one species) and L. mucosae (two species). ConA-agglutination of Bifidobacterium spp. was inhibited by only D-mannose. Based on our results, ConA-agglutination of LAB seems to be strain-specific, but not species-specific.