Inhibition of initial adhesion of uropathogenic Enterococcus faecalis by biosurfactants from Lactobacillus isolates

Authors

Jeremy P. Burton, Lawson Health Research Institute
Peter A. Cadieux, The University of Western Ontario
Gregor Reid, Lawson Health Research Institute

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-1-2003

Journal

Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Volume

69

Issue

1

First Page

97

Last Page

101

URL with Digital Object Identifier

10.1128/AEM.69.1.97-101.2003

Abstract

The vaginal bacterial microbiota of 19 premenopausal women was examined by PCR-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) and sequencing of the V2-V3 region of the 16S rRNA gene. Ten of the women were studied further to investigate the effect and persistence of vaginally inserted capsules containing viable lactobacilli. PCR-DGGE indicated that most subjects had a microbiota represented by one to three dominant DNA fragments. Analysis of these fragments revealed that 79% of the women possessed sequences with high levels of similarity to Lactobacillus species sequences. Sequences homologous to Lactobacillus iners sequences were the most common and were detected in 42% of the women tested. Alteration of the vaginal microbiota could be detected by PCR-DGGE in several women after the instillation of lactobacilli. Additionally, randomly amplified polymorphic DNA analysis of lactobacilli isolated from selective media demonstrated that the exogenous strains could be detected for up to 21 days in some subjects. This study demonstrates that non-culture-based techniques, such as PCR-DGGE, are useful adjuncts for studies of the vaginal microbiota.