Most lactobacilli found in animal intestines are generally non-motile, but there are few exceptions. Our previous work showed that Lactobacillus agilis BKN88, which is a highly motile strain originating from a chicken, takes advantage of motility in gut colonization in murine models, and thus motile lactobacilli likely have unique ecological characteristics conferred by motility. However, the ecology and habitat of gut-derived motile lactobacilli are still rarely understood. In addition, the limited availability of motile Lactobacillus isolates is one of the major obstacles for further studies. To gain insight into the ecology and habitat of the motile lactobacilli, we established a routinely applicable detection method for motile lactobacilli using PCR and subsequent selective isolation in semi-solid MRS medium for the collection of additional motile lactobacilli from animal feces. We applied the PCR detection using motile lactobacilli-specific primers, based on the motor switch protein gene (fliG) of flagella, to 120 animal feces, followed by selective isolation performed using 45 animal feces. As a result, motile lactobacilli were detected in 44 animal feces. In the selective isolation, 29 isolates of L. agilis and 2 isolates of L. ruminis were obtained from 8 animal species. These results indicated that motile lactobacilli are distributed in different animal species. Moreover, phylogenetic analysis of the L. agilis isolates suggests co-evolution with the host, and adaptation to a particular environmental niche.

中文翻译：

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基于PCR的各种动物粪便中活动乳杆菌的筛选，分离和部分表征。

在动物肠道中发现的大多数乳酸菌通常是不能运动的，但也有少数例外。我们以前的研究表明，源自鸡的高度活动性菌株敏捷乳酸杆菌BKN88在鼠模型的肠道定居中利用了运动性，因此运动性乳杆菌可能具有由运动性赋予的独特生态特征。然而，肠源性运动型乳酸杆菌的生态学和栖息地仍然鲜为人知。此外，活动乳杆菌分离物的有限供应是进一步研究的主要障碍之一。为了深入了解活动性乳酸菌的生态和栖息地，我们建立了一种常规适用的运动型乳杆菌检测方法，该方法采用PCR技术，然后在半固体MRS培养基中进行选择性分离，以从动物粪便中收集其他运动型乳杆菌。我们基于鞭毛的运动开关蛋白基因（fliG），使用能动的乳杆菌特异性引物对120个动物粪便进行了PCR检测，然后使用45个动物粪便进行了选择性分离。结果，在44只动物粪便中检测到了能动的乳酸菌。在选择性分离中，从8种动物中获得了29株敏捷菌和2株ruminis菌。这些结果表明能动的乳酸菌分布在不同的动物物种中。此外，对灵芝L.分离株的系统发育分析表明，与宿主共同进化，