Effects of genes required for exopolysaccharides biosynthesis in Lacticaseibacillus paracasei S-NB on cell surface characteristics and probiotic properties

The cell surface of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) plays an essential role in cell-cell and cell-host interactions. Exopolysaccharides (EPSs) are produced on the cell surface of LAB or in the surrounding medium and are considered to be in favor of the strain- specific probiotic surface characteristics. In this work, the structure features of EPS from Lacticaseibacillus paracasei S-NB were analyzed preliminarily, and the genes involved in EPS biosynthesis of S-NB strain were hypothesized and annotated, and their role in phenotypic characteristics were demonstrated by gene deletion analysis. Four mutant strains with deletion of crucial genes involved in EPS synthesis were analyzed for strain characteristics that are closely related to their ability to interact with the host intestinal epithelium cells, including strain surface characteristics and viability under the gastrointestinal stress conditions (both acid and bile stress). Furthermore, the adherence and immunomodulatory properties of wild-type S-NB and its mutant strains were compared using Caco-2 and RAW 264.7 cell lines, respectively. Taken together, the results indicated the importance of genes associated with EPS biosynthesis in L. paracasei S-NB as a determinant in strain surface characteristics and cell-host interaction, especially for S-NB_2176 (responsible for EPS polymerization) and S-NB_2175 (responsible for CpsD/CapB family tyrosine-protein kinase).