Role of luxS in Stress Tolerance and Adhesion Ability in Lactobacillus plantarum KLDS1.0391

Lactobacillus plantarum, a probiotic, has a high survival rate and high colonization ability in the gastrointestinal tract. Tolerance to the gastrointestinal environment and adhesion to intestinal epithelial cells by some Lactobacillus species (excluding L. plantarum) are related to luxS/AI-2. Here, the role of luxS in tolerance to simulated digestive juice (SDJ) and adhesion to Caco-2 cells by L. plantarum KLDS1.0391 (hereafter, KLDS1.0391) was investigated. The KLDS1.0391 luxS mutant strain was constructed by homologous recombination. When luxS was deleted, acid and bile salt tolerance and survival rates in SDJ significantly decreased (p < 0.05 for all). The ability of the luxS deletion strain to adhere to Caco-2 cells was markedly lower than that of the wild-type strain (p < 0.05). The ability of the luxS mutant strain to adhere (competition, exclusion, and displacement) to Escherichia coli ATCC 25922 was significantly lower than that of the wild-type strain (p < 0.05 for all). A significant decrease was noted only in the exclusion adhesion inhibition of the luxS mutant strain to Salmonella typhimurium ATCC 14028 (p < 0.05). These results indicate that the luxS gene plays an important role in the gastrointestinal environment tolerance and adhesion ability of KLDS1.0391.