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BackgroundImmunoregulatory probiotics (immunobiotics) have been proposed to improve piglets’ immune system to avoid intestinal infections and reduce unproductive inflammation after weaning. Previously, it was demonstrated that Lactobacillus jensenii TL2937 (LjTL2937) attenuated the inflammatory response triggered by activation of Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR-4) in porcine intestinal epithelial (PIE) cells and antigen presenting cells (APCs) from porcine Peyer’s patches (PP).ObjectiveIn view of the critical importance of PIE-APCs interactions in the regulation of intestinal immune responses, we aimed to examine the effect of LjTL2937 on activation patterns of APCs from swine PPs in co-cultures with PIE cells. In addition, we investigated whether LjTL2937 was able to beneficially modulate intestinal immunity of piglets after weaning to improve immune-health status.ResultsStimulation of PIE-APCs co-cultures with LjTL2937 increased the expression of MHC-II, CD80/86, IL-10, and Bcl-3 in CD172a+CD11R1- and CD172a+CD11R1high APCs. In addition, the TL2937 strain caused the upregulation of three negative regulators of TLR4 in PIE cells: MKP-1, Bcl-3 and A20. These changes significantly reduced the inflammatory response triggered by TLR4 activation in PIE-APCs co-cultures. The in vivo experiments using castrated male piglets (crossbreeding (LWD) with Landrace (L), Large Yorkshire (W) and Duroc (D))of 3 weeks of age demonstrated that feeding with LjTL2937 significantly reduced blood complement activity and C reactive protein concentrations while no changes were observed in blood leukocytes, ratio of granulocytes to lymphocyte numbers, macrophages’ activity and antibody levels. In addition, treatment with LjTL2937 significantly improved growth performance and productivity, and increased carcass quality.ConclusionsWe demonstrated that the use of immunobiotics strains like LjTL2937, as supplemental additives for piglets feedings, could be used as a strategy to maintain and improve intestinal homeostasis; that is important for the development of the pig and for health and performance throughout the productive life of the animal.

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Two strains of obligately piezophilic bacteria were isolated from sediment collected from the bottom surface of a small canyon on the seaward slope of the Japan Trench at a depth of 6278 m. The isolated strains, Y223GT and Y251E, are closely affiliated with members of the genus Colwellia on the basis of 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis. The G+C contents of both strains were about 39 mol%. DNA-DNA hybridization values between these strains and Colwellia reference strains were significantly lower than those accepted as the phylogenetic definition of a species. The novel strains are Gram-negative, polarly flagellated and facultatively anaerobic. The optimal pressure for growth was 60 MPa at both 4 and 10 6C; the most rapid growth rate was observed at 10 6C and 60 MPa. No growth occurred at 15 6C under any pressure studied. The major isoprenoid quinone is Q-8. The predominant cellular fatty acids are C16 : 0 and C16 : 1. Based on the taxonomic differences observed, the isolated strains appear to represent a novel obligately piezophilic Colwellia species. The name Colwellia piezophila sp. nov. (type strain Y223G T