Abstract
Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) in the microbiota play an important role in human and animal health and, when used as probiotics, can contribute to an increased growth performance in livestock management. Animals living in their native habitat can serve as natural sources of microorganisms, so isolation of LAB strains from wild boars could provide the opportunity to develop effective probiotics to improve production in swine industry. In this study, the probiotic potential of 56 LAB isolates, originated from the ileum, colon, caecum and faeces of 5 wild boars, were assessed in vitro in details. Their taxonomic identity at species level and their antibacterial activity against four representative strains of potentially pathogenic bacteria were determined. The ability to tolerate low pH and bile salt, antibiotic susceptibility, bile salt hydrolase activity and lack of hemolysis were tested. Draft genome sequences of ten Limosilactobacillus mucosae and three Leuconostoc suionicum strains were determined. Bioinformatic analysis excluded the presence of any known acquired antibiotic resistance genes. Three genes, encoding mesentericin B105 and two different bacteriocin-IIc class proteins, as well as two genes with possible involvement in mesentericin secretion (mesE) and transport (mesD) were identified in two L. suionicum strains. Lam29 protein, a component of an ABC transporter with proved function as mucin- and epithelial cell-adhesion factor, and a bile salt hydrolase gene were found in all ten L. mucosae genomes. Comprehensive reconsideration of all data helps to select candidate strains to assess their probiotic potential further in animal experiments.