Follow
International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences (IJCMAS)
IJCMAS is now DOI (CrossRef) registered Research Journal. The DOIs are assigned to all published IJCMAS Articles.
Index Copernicus ICI Journals Master List 2023 - IJCMAS--ICV 2023: 95.56 For more details click here
National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS) : NAAS Score: *5.38 (2020) [Effective from January 1, 2020] For more details click here

Login as a Reviewer


See Guidelines to Authors
Current Issues
Download Publication Certificate

Original Research Articles Volume : Specialissue, Issue : 13, January,

PRINT ISSN : 2319-7692
Online ISSN : 2319-7706
Issues : 12 per year
Publisher : Excellent Publishers
Email : editorijcmas@gmail.com
submit@ijcmas.com
Editor-in-chief: Dr.M.Prakash
Index Copernicus ICV 2018: 95.39
NAAS RATING 2020: 5.38

Int.J.Curr.Microbiol.App.Sci..Specialissue(13) : 341-354
DOI : https://doi.org/10.20546/ijcmas.2026.sp13.036


Isolation, Functional Characterization and Molecular Identification of a Fish Gut-Derived Lactobacillus plantarum with Probiotic Potential

H. Preethi, K. Preethi, M. Priya Dharshini, R. Priyadarshini, R. Parkavi and N. Gomathi*
Department of Microbiology, Valliammal College for Women, E-9, Anna Nagar East, Chennai – 600102, Tamil Nadu, India
*Corresponding author
Abstract:

The gastrointestinal tract of fish represents an important reservoir of microorganisms adapted to the host environment and therefore provides a useful source for the selection of autochthonous probiotic candidates. The present study aimed to isolate lactic acid bacteria from the gut of healthy salmon fish, screen the isolates for probiotic-associated traits, and identify the most promising isolate by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Gut material was aseptically collected, homogenized and serially diluted before plating on de Man, Rogosa and Sharpe (MRS) agar. Four morphologically distinct isolates, designated C1–C4, were recovered. Isolate C1 was selected after preliminary characterization because it was a Gram-positive rod and showed negative catalase and oxidase reactions. The isolate tolerated exposure to pH 2.5 and showed moderate growth in the presence of 0.3% bile salts. It also exhibited γ-haemolysis on blood agar. Cell-free supernatant of C1 inhibited Salmonella Typhi, Escherichia coli, Proteus vulgaris and Acinetobacter baumannii, with inhibition zones of 18.0, 13.5, 13.0 and 10.5 mm, respectively. Molecular characterization generated an approximately 1,500-bp 16S rRNA amplicon. BLAST comparison showed 99.6% identity with Lactobacillus plantarum strain ATCC 14917, 99.4% with strain WCFS1 and 99.2% with strain JDM1, and the phylogenetic analysis placed isolate L. plantarum clade. The isolate therefore showed a combination of gastrointestinal stress tolerance, non-haemolytic phenotype and antagonistic activity that supports its consideration as a potential fish-feed probiotic.


Keywords: Salmon fish gut; lactic acid bacteria; probiotic; Lactobacillus plantarum; acid tolerance; bile tolerance; antibacterial activity; 16S rRNA


References:

Altschul, S.F., Gish, W., Miller, W., Myers, E.W. and Lipman, D.J. (1990) ‘Basic local alignment search tool’, Journal of Molecular Biology, 215(3), pp. 403–410. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-2836(05)80360-2

Balcázar, J.L., de Blas, I., Ruiz-Zarzuela, I., Cunningham, D., Vendrell, D. and Múzquiz, J.L. (2006) ‘The role of probiotics in aquaculture’, Veterinary Microbiology, 114(3–4), pp. 173–186. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vetmic.2006.01.009

Cabello, F.C. (2006) ‘Heavy use of prophylactic antibiotics in aquaculture: a growing problem for human and animal health and for the environment’, Environmental Microbiology, 8(7), pp. 1137–1144. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1462-2920.2006.01054.x

Cappuccino, J.G. and Welsh, C.T. (2017) Microbiology: A Laboratory Manual. 11th edn. Boston: Pearson.

Charteris, W.P., Kelly, P.M., Morelli, L. and Collins, J.K. (1998) ‘Development and application of an in vitro methodology to determine the transit tolerance of potentially probiotic Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium species in the upper human gastrointestinal tract’, Journal of Applied Microbiology, 84(5), pp. 759–768. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2672.1998.00407.x

Clarridge, J.E. (2004) ‘Impact of 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis for identification of bacteria on clinical microbiology and infectious diseases’, Clinical Microbiology Reviews, 17(4), pp. 840–862. https://doi.org/10.1128/CMR.17.4.840-862.2004

Corcoran, B.M., Stanton, C., Fitzgerald, G.F. and Ross, R.P. (2005) ‘Survival of probiotic lactobacilli in acidic environments is enhanced in the presence of metabolizable sugars’, Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 71(6), pp. 3060–3067. https://doi.org/10.1128/AEM.71.6.3060-3067.2005

Dawood, M.A.O., Koshio, S. and Esteban, M.Á. (2018) ‘Beneficial roles of feed additives as immunostimulants in aquaculture: a review’, Reviews in Aquaculture, 10(4), pp. 950–974. https://doi.org/10.1111/raq.12209

De Man, J.C., Rogosa, M. and Sharpe, M.E. (1960) ‘A medium for the cultivation of lactobacilli’, Journal of Applied Bacteriology, 23(1), pp. 130–135. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2672.1960.tb00188.x

de Vries, M.C., Vaughan, E.E., Kleerebezem, M. and de Vos, W.M. (2006) ‘Lactobacillus plantarum—survival, functional and potential probiotic properties in the human intestinal tract’, International Dairy Journal, 16(9), pp. 1018–1028. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.idairyj.2005.09.003.

Denev, S., Staykov, Y., Moutafchieva, R. and Beev, G. (2009) ‘Microbial ecology of the gastrointestinal tract of fish and the potential application of probiotics and prebiotics in finfish aquaculture’, International Aquatic Research, 1, pp. 1–29.

El-Saadony, M.T., Alagawany, M., Patra, A.K., Kar, I., Tiwari, R., Dawood, M.A.O., Dhama, K. and Abdel-Latif, H.M.R. (2021) ‘The functionality of probiotics in aquaculture: an overview’, Fish & Shellfish Immunology, 117, pp. 36–52. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fsi.2021.07.007

FAO/WHO (2002) Guidelines for the Evaluation of Probiotics in Food. Report of a Joint FAO/WHO Working Group. London, Ontario.

Gatesoupe, F.J. (2008) ‘Updating the importance of lactic acid bacteria in fish farming: natural occurrence and probiotic treatments’, Journal of Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology, 14(1–3), pp. 107–114. https://doi.org/10.1159/000106089

Gilliland, S.E., Staley, T.E. and Bush, L.J. (1984) ‘Importance of bile tolerance of Lactobacillus acidophilus used as a dietary adjunct’, Journal of Dairy Science, 67(12), pp. 3045–3051. https://doi.org/10.3168/jds.S0022-0302(84)81670-7

Hai, N.V. (2015) ‘The use of probiotics in aquaculture’, Journal of Applied Microbiology, 119(4), pp. 917–935. https://doi.org/10.1111/jam.12886

Havenaar, R., Brink, B.T. and Huis in’t Veld, J.H.J. (1992) ‘Selection of strains for probiotic use’. In: Fuller, R. (ed.) Probiotics: The Scientific Basis. London: Chapman & Hall, pp. 209–224.

Lee, J.M., Park, S.H., Jin, C.Z., Kang, M.K., Park, D.J. and Kim, C.J. (2021) ‘The groESL ISR sequence-based species-specific identification of GRAS and non-GRAS Lactiplantibacillus as an alternative to 16S rRNA sequencing’, LWT, 147, 111504. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lwt.2021.111504

MacFaddin, J.F. (2000) Biochemical Tests for Identification of Medical Bacteria. 3rd edn. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

Martínez Cruz, P., Ibáñez, A.L., Monroy Hermosillo, O.A. and Ramírez Saad, H.C. (2012) ‘Use of probiotics in aquaculture’, ISRN Microbiology, 2012, 916845. https://doi.org/10.5402/2012/916845

Martínez, J.L. (2009) ‘Environmental pollution by antibiotics and by antibiotic resistance determinants’, Environmental Pollution, 157(11), pp. 2893–2902. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2009.05.051

Nayak, S.K. (2010) ‘Probiotics and immunity: a fish perspective’, Fish & Shellfish Immunology, 29(1), pp. 2–14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fsi.2010.02.017

Ringø, E., Zhou, Z., Vecino, J.L.G., Wadsworth, S., Romero, J., Krogdahl, Å., Olsen, R.E., Dimitroglou, A., Foey, A., Davies, S., Owen, M., Lauzon, H.L., Martinsen, L.L., De Schryver, P., Bossier, P., Sperstad, S. and Merrifield, D.L. (2016) ‘Effect of dietary components on the gut microbiota of aquatic animals. A never-ending story?’ Aquaculture Nutrition, 22(2), pp. 219–282. https://doi.org/10.1111/anu.12346

Sambrook, J. and Russell, D.W. (2001) Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual. 3rd edn. Cold Spring Harbor, NY: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory PresS.

Schillinger, U. and Lücke, F.K. (1989) ‘Antibacterial activity of Lactobacillus sake isolated from meat’, Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 55(8), pp. 1901–1906. https://doi.org/10.1128/aem.55.8.1901-1906.1989

Verschuere, L., Rombaut, G., Sorgeloos, P. and Verstraete, W. (2000) ‘Probiotic bacteria as biological control agents in aquaculture’, Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews, 64(4), pp. 655–671. https://doi.org/10.1128/MMBR.64.4.655-671.2000

Zheng, J., Wittouck, S., Salvetti, E., Franz, C.M.A.P., Harris, H.M.B., Mattarelli, P., O’Toole, P.W., Pot, B., Vandamme, P., Walter, J., Watanabe, K., Wuyts, S., Felis, G.E., Gänzle, M.G. and Lebeer, S. (2020) ‘A taxonomic note on the genus Lactobacillus: description of 23 novel genera, emended description of the genus Lactobacillus Beijerinck 1901, and union of Lactobacillaceae and Leuconostocaceae’, International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology, 70(4), pp. 2782–2858. https://doi.org/10.1099/ijsem.0.004107

Download this article as Download

How to cite this article:

Preethi H., Preethi K., Priya Dharshini M., Priyadarshini R., Parkavi R. and Gomathi N. 2026. Isolation, Functional Characterization and Molecular Identification of a Fish Gut-Derived Lactobacillus plantarum with Probiotic Potential Int.J.Curr.Microbiol.App.Sci. Specialissue(13): 341-354 doi: https://doi.org/10.20546/ijcmas.2026.sp13.036
Copyright: This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license

Citations

"; var printWin = window.open( '', '', 'scrollbars=yes,width=' + w + ',height=' + h + ',top=' + top + ',left=' + left ); printWin.document.write(html); printWin.document.close(); printWin.focus(); printWin.print(); printWin.close(); }