Acyl homoserine lactones facilitate the isolation and cultivation of Gram-negative bacteria from mouse intestine.

Changyu WANG; Qinghua ZHAO; Chang LIU; Shuangjiang LIU

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Acyl homoserine lactones facilitate the isolation and cultivation of Gram-negative bacteria from mouse intestine.

Author: Changyu WANG ¹ ; Qinghua ZHAO ² ; Chang LIU ² ; Shuangjiang LIU ¹
Author Information

1. School of Life Sciences, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, Anhui, China.
2. State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao 266237, Shandong, China.
Publication Type:Journal Article
Keywords: Gram-negative bacteria; acyl homoserine lactones; gut microbiota; quorum sensing
MeSH: Animals; Mice; Acyl-Butyrolactones/pharmacology*; Gastrointestinal Microbiome/drug effects*; Quorum Sensing; Gram-Negative Bacteria/classification*; Intestines/microbiology*; RNA, Ribosomal, 16S/genetics*; Culture Media
From: Chinese Journal of Biotechnology 2025;41(6):2349-2359
CountryChina
Language:Chinese
Abstract: N-dodecanoyl-l-homoserine lactone (C12-HSL) is a signaling molecule that mediates bacterial quorum sensing, regulating bacterial population behaviors. This study investigated the effects of C12-HSL on the isolation and cultivation of gut microbiota, with the goal of enriching the diversity and number of cultivable bacterial strains from the mouse gut microbiota. Using a culture medium supplemented with C12-HSL, we isolated and cultivated bacterial strains from mouse intestinal contents, obtaining a total of 235 isolates. Preliminary identification based on the 16S rRNA gene revealed 54 bacterial species, including 4 potential new species, 4 potential new genera and 1 potential new family. Compared with the previously established mouse gut microbial biobank (mGMB), this study newly identified 42 bacterial species, enhancing the diversity of the strain library. Statistical analysis showed that the proportion of Gram-negative bacteria, particularly those belonging to Proteobacteria, isolated by this method was significantly higher than that obtained by conventional isolation and cultivation methods without the addition of C12-HSL. Subsequent cultivation experiments with one of the newly discovered bacterial species indicated that exogenous C12-HSL at 20-200 μmol/L significantly promoted the growth of this species, while higher concentrations of C12-HSL significantly reduced the cell density of this bacterium. This work confirms that quorum sensing molecules, such as C12-HSL, can enhance the growth, isolation, and cultivation of Gram-negative bacteria in the gut within a specific concentration range. Although the mechanism by which C12-HSL promotes the growth of gut bacterial strains requires further investigation, the findings of this study provide new insights into the targeted isolation, cultivation, and regulation of gut microbiota using bacterial quorum sensing signal molecules.