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J. Bacteriol. doi:10.1128/JB.00991-07
Copyright (c) 2007, American Society for Microbiology and/or the Listed Authors/Institutions. All Rights Reserved.

Gene Expression of a Commensal Lactobacillus johnsonii Strain NCC533 during In Vitro Growth and in the Murine Gut

Emmanuel DENOU, Bernard BERGER, Caroline BARRETTO, Jean-Michel PANOFF, Fabrizio ARIGONI, and Harald BRSSOW^*

Nestlé Research Center, Nestec Ltd P.O. Box 44, CH-1000 Lausanne 26, Switzerland; Food Microbiology Laboratory, IBFA-ISBIO, University of Caen, F-14032 Caen cedex, France

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: harald.bruessow{at}rdls.nestle.com.

	Abstract

Work with pathogens like Vibrio cholerae has shown major differences between gene expression in bacteria grown in vitro and in vivo. To explore this subject for commensals, we investigated the transcription of the Lactobacillus johnsonii NCC533 genome during in vitro and in vivo growth using the microarray technology. In broth growth, 537, 626 and 277 of the 1756 tested genes were expressed during exponential, "adaptation" (early stationary phase) and stationary phase, respectively. One hundred-one, 150 and 33 genes, respectively, were specifically transcribed in these three phases. To explore the in vivo transcription program, we fed L. johnsonii containing a resistance plasmid to antibiotic-treated mice. After a 2-day washout phase, we determined the viable cell count of the lactobacilli in the lumen and associated to the mucosa for different gut segments. While the cell count showed a rather uniform distribution along the gut, we observed marked differences with respect to the expression of the Lactobacillus genome. The largest number of genes was transcribed in the stomach (n=786), followed by the cecum (n=391) and the jejunum (n=296), while only 26 Lactobacillus genes were transcribed in the colon. In vitro and in vivo transcription programs overlapped only partially: 191 of the transcripts from the lactobacilli in the stomach were not detected during in vitro growth; 202 and 213 genes, respectively, were transcribed under all in vitro and in vivo conditions, but the core transcriptome for all growth conditions comprised only 103 genes. Forty-four per cent of the NCC533 genome were not detectably transcribed under any of the investigated conditions. Non-transcribed genes were clustered on the genome and enriched in the variable genome part. Our data revealed not only major differences between in vitro and in vivo gene expression of a Lactobacillus gut commensal, but also marked changes in its in vivo gene expression along the digestive tract.

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