Prohibition of antibiotic growth promoters has affected the genomic profiles of Lactobacillus salivarius inhabiting the swine intestine

PLoS One. 2017 Oct 23;12(10):e0186671. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0186671. eCollection 2017.

Abstract

After the introduction of a ban on the use of antibiotic growth promoters (AGPs) for livestock, the feeding environment, including the composition of animal intestinal microbiota, has changed rapidly. We hypothesized that the microbial genomes have also been affected by this legal prohibition, and investigated an important member of the swine gut microbiota, Lactobacillus salivarius, with a pan-genomic approach. Here, we isolated 21 L. salivarius strains composed of 6 strains isolated before the AGP prohibition (SBPs) and 15 strains isolated after the AGP prohibition (SAPs) at an interval of a decade, and the draft genomes were generated de novo. Several genomic differences between SBPs and SAPs were identified, although the number and function of antibiotic resistance genes were not different. SBPs showed larger genome size and a higher number of orthologs, as well as lower genetic diversity, than SAPs. SBPs had genes associated with the utilization of L-rhamnose and D-tagatose for energy production. Because these sugars are also used in exopolysaccharide (EPS) synthesis, we tried to identify differences in biofilm formation-associated genes. The genes for the production of EPSs and extracellular proteins were different in terms of amino acid sequences. Indeed, SAPs formed dense biofilm and survived better than SBPs in the swine intestinal environment. These results suggest that SAPs have evolved and adapted to protect themselves from new selection pressure of the swine intestinal microenvironment by forming dense biofilms, adopting a distinct antibiotic resistance strategy. This finding is particularly important to understand the evolutionary changes in host-microbe interaction and provide detailed insight for the development of effective probiotics for livestock.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Biofilms
  • Drug Resistance, Microbial
  • Genome, Bacterial
  • Intestines / microbiology*
  • Ligilactobacillus salivarius / drug effects*
  • Ligilactobacillus salivarius / genetics
  • Probiotics / pharmacology*
  • Swine

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the Strategic Initiative for Microbiomes in Agriculture and Food, Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Republic of Korea [grant number 914005-04], Agri-Bio Industry Technology Development Program, Korea Institute of Planning and Evaluation for Technology in Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Republic of Korea [grant number 115084-2]. This study was also supported by 2017 Research Grant from Kangwon National University. Jun-Yeong Lee, Geon Goo Han, Ho-Bin Lee, Sang-Mok Lee, Gwi-Deuk Jin and Jongbin Park were supported by Brain Korea 21 Plus program.