Insight into the Probiogenomic Potential of BGPAS1-3 and Application of a Potent Thermostable Bacteriocin.

This study aimed to investigate the probiogenomic features of artisanal bacteriocin-producing BGPAS1-3 and the use of the improved pMALc5HisEk expression vector for overexpressing class II bacteriocins and the application of purified bacteriocin 31 in a milk model as a preservative against . The BGPAS1-3 strain was isolated from traditional fresh soft cheese manufactured in households on a small scale in rural locations surrounding Pale Mountain City in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The whole-genome sequencing approach and bioinformatics analyses revealed that the strain BGPAS1-3 was non-pathogenic to humans.

Insight into the Postbiotic Potential of the Autochthonous Bacteriocin-Producing BGZLM1-5 in the Reduction in the Abundance of ATCC19111 in a Milk Model.

This study aimed to explore the probiogenomic characteristics of artisanal bacteriocin-producing BGZLM1-5 and its potential application in reducing in a milk model. The BGZLM1-5 strain was isolated from raw cow's milk from households in the Zlatar Mountain region. The whole genome sequencing approach and bioinformatics analyses reveal that the strain BGZLM1-5 is non-pathogenic to humans.

Antioxidant effect of lactic acid bacteria in human bronchial epithelial cells exposed to cigarette smoke.

Aims: Chronic lung diseases are a major and increasing global health problem, commonly caused by cigarette smoke. We aimed to explore the antioxidant effects of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) against cigarette smoke in bronchial epithelial cells.

Methods And Results: The antioxidant effects of 21 heat-killed (HK) LAB strains were tested in cigarette smoke-stimulated BEAS-2B cells and 3-D bronchospheres organoids.

The Impact of Synbiotic Treatment on the Levels of Gut-Derived Uremic Toxins, Inflammation, and Gut Microbiome of Chronic Kidney Disease Patients-A Randomized Trial.

Objective: Altering dysbiotic gut flora through synbiotic supplementation has recently been recognized as a potential treatment strategy to reduce the levels of gut-derived uremic toxins and decrease inflammation. Assessing its efficacy and safety has been the main goal of our randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study.

Methods: A total of 34 nondialyzed chronic kidney disease patients, aged ≥18 years, with an estimated glomerular filtration rate between 15 and 45 mL/minute, were randomized either to an intervention group (n = 17), receiving synbiotic (Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus casei, and Bifidobacterium lactis, 32 billion colony forming units per day plus 3.

BGZLS10-17 and BGPKM22 Exhibit Anti-Inflammatory Effect by Attenuation of NF-κB and MAPK Signaling in Human Bronchial Epithelial Cells.

Bronchial epithelial cells are exposed to environmental influences, microbiota, and pathogens and also serve as a powerful effector that initiate and propagate inflammation by the release of pro-inflammatory mediators. Recent studies suggested that lung microbiota differ between inflammatory lung diseases and healthy lungs implicating their contribution in the modulation of lung immunity. Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are natural inhabitants of healthy human lungs and also possess immunomodulatory effects, but so far, there are no studies investigating their anti-inflammatory potential in respiratory cells.

Enterococci from Raw-Milk Cheeses: Current Knowledge on Safety, Technological, and Probiotic Concerns.

The present study is focused on the safety, technological characteristics, and probiotic evaluation of species from different artisanal raw milk dairy products, mainly cheeses with ripening. Apart from proteolytic and lipolytic activities, most enterococci show the ability to metabolize citrate and convert it to various aromatic compounds. Long-ripened cheeses therefore have a specific flavor that makes them different from cheeses produced from thermally treated milk with commercial starter cultures.

Yogurt Produced by Novel Natural Starter Cultures Improves Gut Epithelial Barrier In Vitro.

Yogurt is a traditional fermented dairy product, prepared with starter cultures containing and that has gained widespread consumer acceptance as a healthy food. It is widely accepted that yogurt cultures have been recognized as probiotics, due to their beneficial effects on human health. In this study, we have characterized technological and health-promoting properties of autochthonous strains BGKMJ1-36 and BGVLJ1-21 isolated from artisanal sour milk and yogurt, respectively, in order to be used as functional yogurt starter cultures.

Diversity of non-starter lactic acid bacteria in autochthonous dairy products from Western Balkan Countries - Technological and probiotic properties.

The aim of this review was to summarize the data regarding diversity of non-starter lactic acid bacteria (NSLAB) isolated from various artisanal dairy products manufactured in Western Balkan Countries. The dairy products examined were manufactured from raw cow's, sheep's or goat's milk or mixed milk, in the traditional way without the addition of commercial starter cultures. Dairy products such as white brined cheese, fresh cheese, hard cheese, yogurt, sour cream and kajmak were sampled in the households of Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and North Macedonia.

GABA-Producing Natural Dairy Isolate From Artisanal Zlatar Cheese Attenuates Gut Inflammation and Strengthens Gut Epithelial Barrier .

Probiotic bacteria are recognized for their health-promoting properties, including maintenance of gut epithelial integrity and host immune system homeostasis. Taking into account the beneficial health-promoting effects of GABA, the presence of the gene, encoding glutamate decarboxylase that converts L-glutamate to GABA, was analyzed in Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB) natural isolates from Zlatar cheese. The results revealed that 52% of tested spp.

The Influence of Heat-Killed BGPAS1-3 on the Tight Junction Protein Expression and Immune Function in Differentiated Caco-2 Cells Infected With ATCC 19111.

, the common foodborne pathogenic bacteria species, compromises the intestinal epithelial barrier, leading to development of the listeriosis, a severe disease especially among immunocompromised individuals. infection usually requires antibiotic treatment, however, excessive use of antibiotics promotes emergence of antibiotic resistance and the destruction of gut microbiota. Probiotics, including lactic acid bacteria (LAB), have been repeatedly proven as an alternative approach for the treatment of various infections.

Pulmonary Aspergillus fumigatus infection in rats affects gastrointestinal homeostasis.

Microbiota inhabiting mucosal tissues is involved in maintenance of their immune homeostasis. Growing body of evidence indicate that dysbiosis in gut influence immune responses at distal sites including lungs. There are also reports concerning gut involvement with pulmonary injury/inflammation in settings of respiratory viral and bacterial infections.

New Insight into Biofilm Formation Ability, the Presence of Virulence Genes and Probiotic Potential of sp. Dairy Isolates.

Enterococci have controversial status due to their emerging role in nosocomial infections and transmission of antibiotic resistance genes, while some enterococci strains are used as probiotics for humans and animals and starter cultures in dairy industry. In order to improve our understanding of factors involved in the safe use of enterococci as potential probiotics, the antibiotic susceptibility, virulence and probiotic traits of 75 dairy enterococci isolates belonging to (50), (15), (6), (3), and (1) were evaluated. The results revealed that ciprofloxacin resistance and biofilm formation are correlated with isolates originated from Golija mountain (Serbia), while gelatinase activity was more common in isolates from Prigorje region (Croatia), pointing to uncontrolled use of antibiotics and anthropogenic impact on dairy products' microbiota in these regions.

Promotion of Early Gut Colonization by Probiotic Intervention on Microbiota Diversity in Pregnant Sows.

The aim of this work was to design a novel mixed probiotic culture for piglets and to evaluate its beneficial effect on the piglets' gut health. The possible mechanisms of probiotic activity, such as adhesion, competitive pathogen exclusion and influence on gut microbiota diversity were determined. Mixed probiotic starter culture is composed of three thermophilic lactic acid bacteria (LAB) strains: BGRA43, BGHI14 and BGVLJ1-44.

Novel Aggregation Promoting Factor AggE Contributes to the Probiotic Properties of BGGO9-28.

The understanding of mechanisms of interactions between various bacterial cell surface proteins and host receptors has become imperative for the study of the health promoting features of probiotic enterococci. This study, for the first time, describes a novel enterococcal aggregation protein, AggE, from BGGO9-28, selected from a laboratory collection of enterococcal isolates with auto-aggregation phenotypes. Among them, BGGO9-28 showed the strongest auto-aggregation, adhesion to components of ECM and biofilm formation.

In vitro and in vivo antagonistic activity of new probiotic culture against Clostridium difficile and Clostridium perfringens.

Background: Genus Clostridium accompanies more than 200 known species and at least 30 among them are associated with human and animal diseases. At the moment, the treatment of clostridial infections is based on use of antibiotics. However, due to the European ban on the use of antibiotics in livestock production, novel therapeutic strategies for treatment of these hardly curable infections have been evaluated.

EPS-SJ Exopolisaccharide Produced by the Strain Lactobacillus paracasei subsp. paracasei BGSJ2-8 Is Involved in Adhesion to Epithelial Intestinal Cells and Decrease on E. coli Association to Caco-2 Cells.

The aim of this study was to determine the role of an exopolysaccharide produced by natural dairy isolate Lactobacillus paracasei subsp. paracasei BGSJ2-8, in the adhesion to intestinal epithelial cells and a decrease in Escherichia coli's association with Caco-2 cells. Annotation of the BGSJ2-8 genome showed the presence of a gene cluster, epsSJ, which encodes the biosynthesis of the strain-specific exopolysaccharide EPS-SJ, detected as two fractions (P1 and P2) by size exclusion chromatography (SEC) coupled with multi-angle laser light scattering (MALLS) detection.

Diversity and antibiotic susceptibility of autochthonous dairy enterococci isolates: are they safe candidates for autochthonous starter cultures?

Enterococci represent the most controversial group of dairy bacteria. They are found to be the main constituent of many traditional Mediterranean dairy products and contribute to their characteristic taste and flavor. On the other hand, during the last 50 years antibiotic-resistant enterococci have emerged as leading causes of nosocomial infections worldwide.

Environmental waters as a source of antibiotic-resistant Enterococcus species in Belgrade, Serbia.

Despite the number of studies on antibiotic-resistant enterococci from Serbian clinical settings, there are no data about environmental contamination with these bacteria. Thus, this study investigated the prevalence of antibiotic-resistant enterococci in Belgrade, Serbia. Enterococcus species collected from ten surface water sites, including a lake, two major river systems, and springs, were tested.

Characterization of lactic acid bacteria isolated from artisanal Travnik young cheeses, sweet creams and sweet kajmaks over four seasons.

The aim of this study was to investigate the composition of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) in autochthonous young cheeses, sweet creams and sweet kajmaks produced in the Vlašić mountain region of central Bosnia and Herzegovina near the town of Travnik over a four season period. These three products were made from cow's milk by a traditional method without the addition of a starter culture. Preliminary characterization with phenotype-based assays and identification using rep-PCR with a (GTG)5 primer and 16S rDNA sequence analysis were undertaken for 460 LAB isolates obtained from all the examined samples.

Genotypic diversity and virulent factors of Staphylococcus epidermidis isolated from human breast milk.

Staphylococcus epidermidis strains were isolated from the expressed human breast milk (EHM) of 14 healthy donor mothers. Genetic diversity was evaluated using RAPD-PCR REP-PCR and pulse-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). PFGE allowed the best discrimination of the isolates, since it provided for the greatest diversity of the analyzed genomes.

Cloning and expression of a novel lactococcal aggregation factor from Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis BGKP1.

Background: Aggregation may play a main role in the adhesion of bacteria to the gastrointestinal epithelium and their colonization ability, as well as in probiotic effects through co-aggregation with intestinal pathogens and their subsequent removal. The aggregation phenomenon in lactococci is directly associated with the sex factor and lactose plasmid co-integration event or duplication of the cell wall spanning (CWS) domain of PrtP proteinase.

Results: Lactococcus lactis subsp.

The characterisation of lactic acid bacteria during the fermentation of an artisan Serbian sausage (Petrovská Klobása).

Petrovská Klobása is an artisan Serbian sausage made only from meat and spices without any additives or starter cultures. In order to characterise lactic acid bacteria (LAB) microflora, a total number of 404 LAB strains were isolated from 15 samples collected during 90 days of the fermentation and 120 days of storage of one batch of Petrovská Klobása. The isolates were preliminarily identified by phenotypic tests and subjected to (GTG)₅-PCR fingerprinting.

Characterization of microflora in homemade semi-hard white Zlatar cheese.

The Zlatar cheese belongs to the group of traditionally homemade cheeses, which are produced from nonpasteurized cow's milk, without adding of any bacterial starter culture. Changes were followed in lactic acid bacteria population and chemical composition during the ripening period of cheese up to 60 days. Results showed that the percentage of lactic acid cocci was higher in raw milk and one day old cheese and their percentage was gradually decreasing, whereas the number of lactobacilli was increasing.