Adjacent-possible ecological niche: growth of Lactobacillus species co-cultured with Escherichia coli in a synthetic minimal medium.

ABSTRACT: In certain conditions, members of the Lactobacillus genus are auxotrophs that have fastidious requirements for growth. Notably, Lactobacillus cannot grow in M9 medium, a minimal synthetic medium used for Escherichia coli. However, we found that some Lactobacillus strains can be grown in M9 when co-cultured with E. coli K-12. In the co-culture, L. casei proliferates exponentially, reaching cell densities of 10⁸ CFU (colony-forming unit) ml^-1 in 6 h and dominating E. coli in the late growth phase. Spent medium from E. coli grown overnight lacked this growth-promoting effect on L. casei. Similarly, the effect was not observed when the species were separated by a 0.4-µm membrane. Microscopic observations showed that L. casei are embedded in the micro-scale clusters of E.

SUBMITTER: Mizuno K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5643319 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature