Identification of Lactobacillus ruminus SPM0211 Isolated from Healthy Koreans and Its Antimicrobial Activity against Some Pathogens

The intestinal microbiota are important to the host with regard to resistance they impart against bacterial infections and their involvement in mediating metabolic functions. Lactic acid producing bacteria such as Lactobacillus play an important physiological role in these matters. The aim of the present study was to isolate Lactobacillus sp. that inhibits enteric pathogens. Initially, 17 isolates from healthy Koreans were collected on Lactobacillus selective medium. Resistance of the isolates to antibiotics including rifampicin, streptomycin, clindamycin and vancomycin was measured. One of the isolate was identified as Lactobacillus ruminus on the basis of bacterial cell morphology, cultural characteristic and biochemical characteristics, 16S rRNA sequence analysis and PCR-RAPD. Antimicrobial activity of the bacterium against Vancomycin Intermediate Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (VISA) and Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococci (VRE) was measured. About $10^4$ cells of VISA or VRE were mixed with 1, 5, and 9 mL of L. ruminus SPM 0211 and the final volume was adjusted to 10 mL with brain heart infusion (BHI) broth. The cell suspension was incubated for 3, 6, 9, and 24 h, serially diluted and then plated on BHI agar plates. As numbers of L. ruminus SPM 0211 were increased, viable cell count of VISA and VRE decreased. The strongest antimicrobial activity of SPM 0211 was observed after 9 h incubation in any mixture, almost completely inhibiting the growth of these two bacteria. The results suggest that the freshly isolated L. ruminus SPM 0211 may be used as a pro-biotic microbe that prevents the colonization of enteric pathogens and can thereby promote good gastrointestinal health.