The objective of this study was to investigate the cultivable Lactobacillus population in adult and infant faecal material to identify strains shared across a number of individuals. A range of lactobacilli isolated on Lactobacillus-selective agar from faeces of 16 infants and 11 adults were genetically fingerprinted and further characterized by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The relatedness of all t...

In this study, investigations into the 23S-5S rRNA intergenic spacer regions (ISRs) of the Lactobacillus casei group were performed. A 1.6 kb fragment, from Lactobacillus paracasei strain ATCC 27092, containing part of the 5S rRNA gene (60 bp), the 5S-23S spacer region (198 bp) and part of the 23S rRNA gene (1295 bp) was cloned and sequenced (GenBank no. AF098107). This fragment was used as a p...

Here, we report the extensive bioinformatic and functional analyses of the unusual pLOCK 0919, a plasmid originating from the probiotic Lactobacillus casei LOCK 0919 strain. This plasmid is atypical because it harbors the spaCBA-srtC gene cluster encoding SpaCBA pili. We show that all other spaCBA-srtC sequences of the Lactobacillus genus that have been previously described and deposited in Gen...

BACKGROUND Based on literature, in vitro cholesterol removal of lactic acid bacteria has been accounted for their in vivo cholesterol reduction. But recently it has been proposed that such in vitro characteristic may not be directly relevant to their in vivo activity. The objective of this study was to find how much in vitro cholesterol reducing potential of Lactobacillus plantarum A7 (LA7), a ...

lactobacillus spp are a group of gram-positive, non-spore forming, cocci or rod shaped, catalase negative organisms that benefit to the host. prebiotics are non-digestible food ingredients that stimulate the growth and /or activity of bacteria in the digestive system in ways claimed to be beneficial to health. this study was conducted in order to investigate the effects of selected probiotic mi...

A polyphasic taxonomic study of the bacterial flora isolated from traditional French wheat sourdough, using phenotypic characterization and phylogenetic as well as genetic methods, revealed a consistent group of isolates that could not be assigned to any recognized species. These results were confirmed by randomly amplified polymorphic DNA and amplified fragment length polymorphism fingerprinti...

OBJECTIVE This study was undertaken to characterise the dominant species of Lactobacillus colonising the vagina of healthy pregnant women, to examine some of their phenotypic and genotypic properties, and to gain a better understanding of the potential role of species, which might be associated with infection-free status. DESIGN A prospective descriptive cohort study. SETTING Department of ...

Single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) recombineering is a technology which is used to make subtle changes in the chromosome of several bacterial genera. Cells which express a single-stranded DNA binding protein (RecT or Bet) are transformed with an oligonucleotide which is incorporated via an annealing and replication-dependent mechanism. By in silico analysis we identified ssDNA binding protein homologs...

Human follicular fluid, considered sterile, is aspirated as part of an in vitro fertilization (IVF) cycle. However, it is easily contaminated by the trans-vaginal collection route and little information exists in its potential to support the growth of microorganisms. The objectives of this study were to determine whether human follicular fluid can support bacterial growth over time, whether the...

Lactobacillus plantarum is a widespread member of the Lactobacillus genus and frequently isolated from spoiled acidified food products. Here, we report the draft genome sequences of three L. plantarum food isolates.