Abstract
Lactobacillus plantarum BW2013 was isolated from the fermented Chinese cabbage. This study aimed to test the effect of this strain on the gut microbiota in BALB/c mice by 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing. The mice were randomly allocated to the control group and three treatment groups of L. plantarum BW2013 (a low-dose group of 10(8) CFU/ml, a medium-dose group of 10(9) CFU/ml, and a high-dose group of 10(10) CFU/ml). The weight of mice was recorded once a week, and the fecal samples were collected for 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing after 28 days of continuous treatment. Compared with the control group, the body weight gain in the treatment groups was not significant. The 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing analysis showed that both the Chao1 and ACE indexes increased slightly in the medium-dose group compared to the control group, but the difference was not significant. Based on PCoA results, there was no significant difference in β diversity between the treatment groups. Compared to the control group, the abundance of Bacteroidetes increased in the low-dose group. The abundance of Firmicutes increased in the medium-dose group. At the genus level, the abundance of Alloprevotella increased in the low-dose group compared to the control group. The increased abundance of Ruminococcaceae and decreased abundance of Candidatus_Saccharimonas was observed in the medium-dose group. Additionally, the abundance of Bacteroides increased, and Alistipes and Candidatus_Saccharimonas decreased in the high-dose group. These results indicated that L. plantarum BW2013 could ameliorate gut microbiota composition, but its effects vary with the dose.