Relative expression of bacterial and host specific genes associated with probiotic survival and viability in the mice gut fed with Lactobacillus plantarum Lp91

The present investigation was aimed at studying the relative expression of atpD (a key part of F1F0-ATPase operon), bsh (bile salt hydrolase), mub (mucus-binding protein) and MUC2 (mucin) genes in mouse model for establishing the in vivo functional efficacy of Lactobacillus plantarum Lp91 (MTCC5690) by reverse transcription-quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR). The atpD gene was significantly up-regulated to 2.0, 2.4 and 3.2 folds in Lp91 after 15, 30 and 60 min transit in the stomach of mice. The maximal significant (P < 0.00) level of relative bsh gene expression was recorded in Lp91 with 41.6 fold in comparison to only 5.0 fold in reference strain Lp5276 after seven days of mice feeding. Simultaneously, mub gene expression increased to 12.8 and 22.7 fold in both Lp91 and Lp5276, respectively. The expression level of MUC2 was at the level of 1.6 and 2.1 fold in the host colon on administration with Lp91 and Lp5276 feeding, respectively. Hence, the expression of atpD, bsh, mub, MUC2 could be considered as prospective and potential biomarkers for screening of novel probiotic lactobacillus strains for optimal functionality in the gut.