BMC Biology · 12 authors, 7 centres
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This study used genomic analysis and mouse experiments to trace the evolutionary history of the gut bacterium Limosilactobacillus reuteri across various animal hosts. The central finding is that L. reuteri has a long-term, stable association with rodents and birds, while its presence in humans likely stems from recent, dynamic zoonotic transmission from domesticated animals.
Researchers analyzed a large collection of Limosilactobacillus reuteri strains from diverse vertebrate hosts using phylogenomic and comparative genomic methods, supplemented by colonization experiments in germ-free mice. The phylogenetic analysis revealed early-branching lineages primarily from rodents and birds, suggesting ancient, stable associations, while lineages from humans, pigs, and herbivores were more recent and less host-specific. Crucially, only strains from rodent-adapted lineages, not those from other hosts, efficiently colonized the mouse forestomach epithelium. The study concludes that L. reuteri has evolved stable, autochthonous relationships with rodents and birds over long evolutionary timescales, whereas its association with humans appears allochthonous and reliant on zoonotic transmission from domesticated animals like poultry and herbivores. A key limitation is the reliance on a single colonization model (mice) to infer host adaptation, and the analysis of non-human primate and swine strains may be confounded by the effects of domestication or captivity.
