Biotech Updates

Gut Bacterium Genome to Explain their Host Specificity

September 2, 2011

Researchers from the Institute of Food Research (IFR) and The Genome Analysis Centre (TGAC) have decoded and published the genome sequence of a gut bacterium (Lactobacillus reuteri). The genomic sequence will be used by scientists as a guide to understand how such microorganisms evolved their symbiotic relationships with their hosts.

L. reuteri dwell in the gastrointestinal tract of diverse hosts like human, rats, and birds. It confers specific health benefits and has a function in the immune system. Based on a previous study, each host species has its unique set of L. reuteri strains. IFR and TGAC scientists sequenced the genome of the strain collected from pig to a high quality draft standard and also provided a complete annotation. The annotation is important to identify which genes carry out which functions in the sequence. Researchers identified the unique genes of this strain from the sequence of other strains using international sequence databases. They are hoping that this information could lead them to the reason behind the specificity of the strain to their hosts.

The original news article is posted at http://www.ifr.ac.uk/info/news-and-events/NewsReleases/110630lreuterigenome.html.