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Evaluation of Modulatory Activities of Lactobacillus crispatus Strains in the Context of the Vaginal Microbiota

It has been widely reported that members of the genus Lactobacillus dominate the vaginal microbiota, which is represented by the most prevalent species Lactobacillus crispatus, Lactobacillus jensenii, Lactobacillus gasseri, and Lactobacillus iners. L. crispatus is furthermore considered an important...

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Autores principales: Argentini, Chiara, Fontana, Federico, Alessandri, Giulia, Lugli, Gabriele Andrea, Mancabelli, Leonardo, Ossiprandi, Maria Cristina, van Sinderen, Douwe, Ventura, Marco, Milani, Christian, Turroni, Francesca
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: American Society for Microbiology 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9045136/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35266820
http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/spectrum.02733-21
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author Argentini, Chiara
Fontana, Federico
Alessandri, Giulia
Lugli, Gabriele Andrea
Mancabelli, Leonardo
Ossiprandi, Maria Cristina
van Sinderen, Douwe
Ventura, Marco
Milani, Christian
Turroni, Francesca
author_facet Argentini, Chiara
Fontana, Federico
Alessandri, Giulia
Lugli, Gabriele Andrea
Mancabelli, Leonardo
Ossiprandi, Maria Cristina
van Sinderen, Douwe
Ventura, Marco
Milani, Christian
Turroni, Francesca
author_sort Argentini, Chiara
collection PubMed
description It has been widely reported that members of the genus Lactobacillus dominate the vaginal microbiota, which is represented by the most prevalent species Lactobacillus crispatus, Lactobacillus jensenii, Lactobacillus gasseri, and Lactobacillus iners. L. crispatus is furthermore considered an important microbial biomarker due to its professed beneficial implications on vaginal health. In order to identify molecular mechanisms responsible for health-promoting activities that are believed to be elicited by L. crispatus, we performed in silico investigations of the intraspecies biodiversity of vaginal microbiomes followed by in vitro experiments involving various L. crispatus strains along with other vaginal Lactobacillus species mentioned above. Specifically, we assessed their antibacterial activities against a variety of pathogenic microorganisms that are associated with vaginal infections. Moreover, coculture experiments of L. crispatus strains showing the most antibacterial activity against different pathogens revealed distinct ecological fitness and competitive properties with regard to other microbial colonizers. Interestingly, we observed that even phylogenetically closely related L. crispatus strains possess unique features in terms of their antimicrobial activities and associated competitive abilities, which suggests that they exert marked competition and evolutionary pressure within their specific environmental niche. IMPORTANCE The human vaginal microbiota includes all microorganisms that colonize the vaginal tract. In this context, a vaginal microbiota dominated by Lactobacillus and specifically by Lactobacillus crispatus is considered a hallmark of health. The role of L. crispatus in maintaining host health is linked to its modulatory activity toward other members of the vaginal ecosystem and toward the host. In this study, in vitro experiments followed by genetic analyses of the mechanisms used by L. crispatus in colonizing the vaginal ecological niche, particularly in the production of different antimicrobial compounds, were evaluated, highlighting some intriguing novel aspects concerning the genetic variability of this species. Our results indicate that this species has adapted to its niche and may still undergo adaptation to enhance its competitiveness for niche colonization.
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spelling pubmed-90451362022-04-28 Evaluation of Modulatory Activities of Lactobacillus crispatus Strains in the Context of the Vaginal Microbiota Argentini, Chiara Fontana, Federico Alessandri, Giulia Lugli, Gabriele Andrea Mancabelli, Leonardo Ossiprandi, Maria Cristina van Sinderen, Douwe Ventura, Marco Milani, Christian Turroni, Francesca Microbiol Spectr Research Article It has been widely reported that members of the genus Lactobacillus dominate the vaginal microbiota, which is represented by the most prevalent species Lactobacillus crispatus, Lactobacillus jensenii, Lactobacillus gasseri, and Lactobacillus iners. L. crispatus is furthermore considered an important microbial biomarker due to its professed beneficial implications on vaginal health. In order to identify molecular mechanisms responsible for health-promoting activities that are believed to be elicited by L. crispatus, we performed in silico investigations of the intraspecies biodiversity of vaginal microbiomes followed by in vitro experiments involving various L. crispatus strains along with other vaginal Lactobacillus species mentioned above. Specifically, we assessed their antibacterial activities against a variety of pathogenic microorganisms that are associated with vaginal infections. Moreover, coculture experiments of L. crispatus strains showing the most antibacterial activity against different pathogens revealed distinct ecological fitness and competitive properties with regard to other microbial colonizers. Interestingly, we observed that even phylogenetically closely related L. crispatus strains possess unique features in terms of their antimicrobial activities and associated competitive abilities, which suggests that they exert marked competition and evolutionary pressure within their specific environmental niche. IMPORTANCE The human vaginal microbiota includes all microorganisms that colonize the vaginal tract. In this context, a vaginal microbiota dominated by Lactobacillus and specifically by Lactobacillus crispatus is considered a hallmark of health. The role of L. crispatus in maintaining host health is linked to its modulatory activity toward other members of the vaginal ecosystem and toward the host. In this study, in vitro experiments followed by genetic analyses of the mechanisms used by L. crispatus in colonizing the vaginal ecological niche, particularly in the production of different antimicrobial compounds, were evaluated, highlighting some intriguing novel aspects concerning the genetic variability of this species. Our results indicate that this species has adapted to its niche and may still undergo adaptation to enhance its competitiveness for niche colonization. American Society for Microbiology 2022-03-10 /pmc/articles/PMC9045136/ /pubmed/35266820 http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/spectrum.02733-21 Text en Copyright © 2022 Argentini et al. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) .
spellingShingle Research Article
Argentini, Chiara
Fontana, Federico
Alessandri, Giulia
Lugli, Gabriele Andrea
Mancabelli, Leonardo
Ossiprandi, Maria Cristina
van Sinderen, Douwe
Ventura, Marco
Milani, Christian
Turroni, Francesca
Evaluation of Modulatory Activities of Lactobacillus crispatus Strains in the Context of the Vaginal Microbiota
title Evaluation of Modulatory Activities of Lactobacillus crispatus Strains in the Context of the Vaginal Microbiota
title_full Evaluation of Modulatory Activities of Lactobacillus crispatus Strains in the Context of the Vaginal Microbiota
title_fullStr Evaluation of Modulatory Activities of Lactobacillus crispatus Strains in the Context of the Vaginal Microbiota
title_full_unstemmed Evaluation of Modulatory Activities of Lactobacillus crispatus Strains in the Context of the Vaginal Microbiota
title_short Evaluation of Modulatory Activities of Lactobacillus crispatus Strains in the Context of the Vaginal Microbiota
title_sort evaluation of modulatory activities of lactobacillus crispatus strains in the context of the vaginal microbiota
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9045136/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35266820
http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/spectrum.02733-21
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