Study on life cycle of a sporogenous probiotic bacterium in mammalian gastrointestinal tract with image processing analysis

Abstract

During different phases of growth cycle, Bacillus coagulans RK-02, a sporogenous probiotic bacterium, exhibits different morphological characteristics. Sequential morphological changes of the bacterium, when grown in a 2 L bioreactor in batch mode, were captured under microscope. Processing of the microscopic images and subsequent computational analysis to extract characteristic features, strictly in numerical values, elucidated a time course of quantitative changes in the cell morphology during batch cultivation. This information was further exploited in deciphering different state of growth of the probiotic bacterium across a pH gradient while passing through gastrointestinal tract (GIT) in mouse model. This study would thus help us to understand the kinetics of growth of B. coagulans RK-02 in mouse GIT and consequently decide the dosage regimen of the probiotic.