Project description:Comparison of gene expression between L. reuteri DSM 17938 and L. reuteri DSM 17938::pocR mutant grown in semi-defined medium after 24h of growth at 37C in anaerobic condition. PocR is an AraC-like transcriptional regulator, and changes in gene expression between mutant and wild-type strains would indicate genes involved in the PocR regulon.
Project description:Commensal (symbiont) bacteria form communities in various regions of the bodies of vertebrates. Phylogenetic analysis of gut communities is advanced, but the relationships, especially at the trophic level, between commensals that share gut habitats of monogastric animals have not been investigated to any extent. Lactobacillus reuteri strain 100-23 and Lactobacillus johnsonii strain 100-33 cohabit in the forestomach of mice. According to the niche exclusion principle, this should not be possible because both strains utilise the two main fermentable carbohydrates present in the stomach digesta: glucose and maltose. We show, based on gene transcription analysis, in vitro physiological assays, and in vivo experiments that the two strains can co-exist in the forestomach habitat because L. reuteri 100-23 transports maltose into its cells more efficiently than does L. johnsonii 100-33. Conversely, strain 100-33 transports glucose more efficiently than 100-23. As a result, 100-23 shows a preference for growth using maltose, whereas 100-33 prefers glucose. Mutation of the maltose phosphorylase gene (malA) of strain 100-23 prevented its growth on maltose-containing culture medium, and resulted in the numerical dominance of 100-33 in the forestomach. The fundamental niche of L. reuteri 100-23 in the mouse forestomach can be defined in terms of glucose and maltose fermentation. Its realised niche when L. johnsonii 100-33 is present is maltose fermentation. Hence nutritional adaptations provided niche differentiation that enabled cohabitation by the two strains through resource partitioning in the mouse forestomach. This real life, trophic phenomenon conforms to a mathematical model. Analysis of the microarray data was obtained from two independent biological replicates. A dye swap was included in the analysis
