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Indication for Co-evolution of Lactobacillus johnsonii with its hosts
Keren Buhnik-Rosenblau1, Vera Matsko-Efimov, Minju Jung
1Department of Biotechnology and Food Engineering, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel.
BMC Microbiology
|July 26, 2012
Summary
Lactobacillus johnsonii strains show host specificity, with genetic analysis revealing distinct clusters from chickens, humans, and mice. This suggests co-evolution between hosts and their intestinal lactic acid bacteria.
Area of Science:
- Microbiology
- Genetics
- Host-microbe interactions
Background:
- The intestinal microbiota is host-specific, influenced by environment and genetics.
- Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are a key group within the microbiota, often possessing health benefits.
- Lactobacillus johnsonii is a potentially probiotic LAB species of interest for studying host-specific variations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the genetic variation within Lactobacillus johnsonii strains isolated from diverse hosts.
- To determine if L. johnsonii exhibits host specificity.
- To explore the co-evolutionary relationship between hosts and intestinal LAB.
Main Methods:
- Isolation of L. johnsonii from 104 fecal samples.
- Terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (tRFLP) for initial identification.
- Simple sequence repeat (SSR) analysis and multi-locus sequence typing (MLST) for genetic variation analysis of 47 L. johnsonii strains.
Main Results:
- tRFLP indicated host specificity for Enterococcus faecium and Lactobacillus intestinalis, but not for L. johnsonii or Enterococcus faecalis.
- Genetic analysis of 47 L. johnsonii strains revealed three distinct clusters, each associated with a specific host (chickens, humans, or mice).
- Phylogenetic separation of L. johnsonii strains correlated with their host of origin.
Conclusions:
- L. johnsonii strains demonstrate phylogenetic separation based on their host, supporting host specificity.
- The findings suggest a co-evolutionary relationship between hosts and their intestinal lactic acid bacteria.
- Specific LAB species are associated with host taxonomy, reinforcing the host-microbe co-evolution hypothesis.
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