Quorum sensing in sourdough Lactobacillus plantarum DC400: induction of plantaricin A (PlnA) under co-cultivation with other lactic acid bacteria and effect of PlnA on bacterial and Caco-2 cells

This work aimed at showing the effect of pheromone plantaricin A (PlnA) by Lactobacillus plantarum DC400 towards other sourdough lactic acid bacteria and the potential of PlnA to protect the function of the human intestinal barrier. Growth and survival of sourdough lactic acid bacteria were differently affected by co-cultivation with L. plantarum DC400. Compared to mono-cultures, Lactobacillus sanfranciscensis DPPMA174 and Pediococcus pentosaceus 2XA3 showed growth inhibition and decreased viability when co-cultured with L. plantarum DC400. L. sanfranciscensis DPPMA174 induced the highest synthesis of PlnA. Survival of strain DPPMA174 only slightly varied by comparing the addition of PlnA to the culture medium and the co-cultivation with L. plantarum DC400. Compared to mono-culture, the proteome of L. sanfranciscensis DPPMA174 grown in co-culture with L. plantarum DC400 showed the variation of expression of 58 proteins (47 over expressed and 11 repressed). Thirty-four of them were also over expressed or repressed during growth of DPPMA174 with PlnA. Fifty-one of the above 58 proteins were identified. They had a central role in stress response, amino acid, energy and nucleotide metabolisms, membrane transport, regulation of transcription, and cell redox homeostasis. PlnA markedly increased the viability of human Caco-2/TC7 cells and the transepithelial electrical resistance.