Influences of quorum-quenching probiotic bacteria on the gut microbial community and immune function in weaning pigs

Abstract

The aim of this study is to investigate the dynamic gut microbial diversity in weaning swine after administering feed supplemented with probiotic bacteria that specifically inhibit the activity of quorum molecules. Initially, the universal quorum molecule autoinducer-2 (AI-2) bioassay results indicated that AI-2 activity was profoundly inhibited in enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) O157:H7 in the presence of Lactobacillus acidophilus strain 30SC cell extract, although the growth of EHEC was not affected. Based on plate counting results, bacterial community analysis revealed a specific reduction in coliforms compared to the control, whereas the population of lactobacilli increased in weaning swine in in vivo trials. Supplementation with L. acidophilus strain 30SC did not affect the counts of other communities, such as total aerobes and yeast/mold. In addition, PCR-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis analysis showed a significant difference in the 16S rRNA gene products after administering L. acidophilus strain 30SC. Selected bands were sequenced, and most of them were identified as uncultured bacterium clones or a Lactobacillus- and Bifidobacterium-specific community. Therefore, our results indicate that quorum-quenching probiotic bacteria can significantly modulate the gut microbiota of swine and these beneficial effects can contribute to the improvement of performance and health in the gastrointestinal tract of weaning pigs.