Cited by 19Probiotics and Fermented FoodsGut microbiota and healthSteroid Chemistry and Biochemistry

Genome Mining and Characterization of Two Novel Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus Probiotic Candidates with Bile Salt Hydrolase Activity

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Agolino, Gianluigi, Cristofolini, Marianna, Vaccalluzzo, Amanda, Tagliazucchi, Davide, Cattivelli, Alice, Pino, Alessandra, Caggia, Cinzia, Solieri, Lisa +1 more·2025·Biomolecules

Abstract

Bile salt hydrolase (BSH; EC 3.5.1.24) is the microbial enzyme that catalyzes the conversion of primary bile acids (BAs) into secondary ones, promoting microbial adaptation and modulating several host’s biological functions. Probiotics with BSH activity are supposed to survive harsh intestinal conditions and exert a cholesterol-lowering effect. Here, Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus strains (VB4 and VB1), isolated from the vaginal ecosystem, were submitted to a genomic survey, in vitro BSH activity, and BAs tolerance assay to unravel their probiotic potential as BAs modulators. The draft genomes of Lcb. rhamnosus VB4 and VB1 strains comprised 2769 and 2704 CDSs, respectively. Gene annotation revealed numerous strain-specific genes involved in metabolism and transport, as well as in DNA recombination. Each strain harbors a single bsh gene, encoding a C-N amide hydrolase, which conserved the essential residues required in the BSH core site. According to the results, compared to VB1, the VB4 strain tolerated better BAs stress and was more active in deconjugating BAs. However, BAs stress increased the bsh gene transcription in the VB1 strain but not in the VB4 strain, suggesting a partially nonlinear relationship between BSH activity and gene expression. In conclusion, despite the complexity of the BSH transcriptional system, the results support the VB4 strain as a promising BAs-deconjugating probiotic candidate.

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Crossref · 10.3390/biom15010086

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  • The bile salt mixture more closely mimics the complex in vivo bile environment compared to individual bile salt exposure.

    “a condition which more closely mimics the complex in vivo bile environment compared to individual BSs exposure [31, 72].”

    From Bile Salt Hydrolase Activity in the Food-Derived Strain Levilactobacillus brevis M3R3: Genomic and Functional Characterization (2026) · cites this paper as [31]

    The Introduction describes multiple bile-acid forms in the gut, and Results §3.8 reports testing the strains with a bile-acid mixture. The Discussion also compares the test concentration with estimated bile concentrations in the human gastrointestinal tract. Our copy does not explicitly say that the mixture mimics in vivo bile more closely than exposure to individual bile salts. (LLM, conf=0.78)

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Authors
Agolino, G., Cristofolini, M., Vaccalluzzo, A., Tagliazucchi, D., Cattivelli, A., Pino, A., Caggia, C., Solieri, L., & Randazzo, C. L.
Affiliations
  • University of Catania (IT)
  • University of Modena and Reggio Emilia (IT)
Corresponding author
  • Pino, Alessandra
  • Solieri, Lisa
Venue
Biomolecules
Publisher
MDPI AG
Published
2025-01-08
Volume
15
Issue
1
Pages
86
ISSN
2218-273X (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W4406171548
Cited by
19
References
90
Citations by year
2026: 9 · 2025: 10
FWCI
8.97
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Biomolecules (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • IRIS UNIMORE (University of Modena and Reggio Emilia) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
Funders
  • NBFC
  • Italian Ministry of University and Research
  • PNRR
  • Missione 4 Componente 2
  • Dalla ricerca all’impresa
  • Investimento 1.4
  • Project CN00000033
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Food Science › Probiotics and Fermented Foods
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Gut microbiota and health
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Steroid Chemistry and Biochemistry
Keywords
Lactobacillus rhamnosus, bile salt hydrolase, probiotics, bile acid deconjugation, primary bile acids, gene expression regulation, bile salt tolerance, vaginal microbiota, draft genome sequence, cholesterol lowering, genome annotation
MeSH terms
Amidohydrolases, Bacterial Proteins, Bile Acids and Salts, Female, Humans, Phylogeny, Genome, Bacterial, Probiotics, Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus

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