Growth stimulation of Clostridium butyricum in the presence of Lactobacillus brevis JL16 and Lactobacillus parabuchneri MH44

Abstract

Certain strains of Clostridium butyricum exhibit characteristics of probiotics that are now sold in eastern Asian countries such as Korea and Japan. Integral improvement in C. butyricum functions can be achieved in the presence of Lactobacillus spp. through the process of attentive selection. This study aimed to select specific strains of lactic acid bacteria that could synergistically enhance the probiotic functions of C. butyricum. The supernatants of 249 lactic acid bacteria were examined, and we observed that 24 strains did not inhibit the growth of C. butyricum. Additionally, 4 of these 24 strains induced over 2-fold promotion in C. butyricum growth rates during co-culture with this bacterial strain. This growth promotion was verified using qPCR. In particular, Lactobacillus brevis JL16 and Lactobacillus parabuchneri MH44 stimulated C. butyricum more effectively than did other strains. We determined the level of buk (butyrate kinase) expression, the survival rate in the presence of bile salt, the ability of auto-aggregation, and the survival rate after freeze-drying.

Keywords:
Clostridium butyricum; butyric acid; probiotics; Lactobacillus spp.; co-culture