Compatibility and safety of five lectin-binding putative probiotic strains for the development of a multi-strain protective culture for poultry

Abstract

The ban on the use of antibiotics as feed additives for animal growth promotion in the European Union and United States and the expectation of this trend to further expand to other countries in the short term have prompted a surge in probiotic research. Multi-species probiotics including safe and compatible strains with the ability to bind different nutritional lectins with detrimental effects on poultry nutrition could replace antibiotics as feed additives. Lactobacillus salivarius LET201, Lactobacillus reuteri LET210, Enterococcus faecium LET301, Propionibacterium acidipropionici LET103 and Bifidobacterium infantis CRL1395 have proved to be compatible as evaluated through three different approaches: the production and excretion of antimicrobial compounds, growth inhibition by competition for essential nutrients and physical contact, and a combination of both. The safety of P. acidipropionici LET103 was confirmed, since no expression of virulence factors or antibiotic resistance was detected. The innocuity of E. faecium LET301 should be further evaluated, since the presence of genes coding for certain virulence factors (gelE, efaAfm and efaAfs) was observed, albeit no expression of gelE was previously detected for this strain and there are no reports of involvement of efaAfm in animal pathogenicity. Finally, a combination of the five strains effectively protected intestinal epithelial cells of broilers from the cytotoxicity of mixtures of soybean agglutinin, wheat germ agglutinin and concanavalin A. To our knowledge, this is the first time that a combination of strains is evaluated for their protection against lectins that might be simultaneously present in poultry feeds.

Lactobacillus reuteri and Enterococcus faecium from Poultry Gut Reduce Mucin Adhesion and Biofilm Formation of Cephalosporin and Fluoroquinolone-Resistant Salmonella enterica

“…All of the initially screened 17 isolates showed negative results for a hemolytic DNase activity and demonstrated variable antimicrobial resistance patterns towards the tested antibiotics ( Table 2 ). These results are following the previous study where E. faecium and L. reuteri showed a negative hemolytic and DNase activity [ 67 ]. The isolated LAB should be sensitive to antibiotics in order to avoid any potential transfer of undesirable antibiotic resistance to the intestinal microbiota [ 68 , 69 , 70 ].…”

Current status and application of lactic acid bacteria in animal production systems with a focus on bacteria from honey bee colonies

“…salivarius and Lact. reuteri supplements are efficient in avoiding harmful effects of a natural constituent of the grain in wheat‐based diets of chickens (Babot et al ).…”

Screening and Evaluation of Purine-Nucleoside-Degrading Lactic Acid Bacteria Isolated from Winemaking Byproducts In Vitro and Their Uric Acid-Lowering Effects In Vivo

“…The biological characteristics of tolerance to acid and bile salt and cell adhesion abilities were important to determine whether the tested LAB strains could survive in and successfully colonize the gastrointestinal tract [1]. Current studies demonstrate that the factors facilitating Lactobacillus adhesion on epithelial cells include hydrophobic effects, lipoteichoic acids (LTA), lectins, proteins and exopolysaccharides (EPA) [24][25][26][27]. EPA often attaches to cell surfaces or is secreted into an extracellular medium.…”