Effect of the catabolic control protein A of Lactiplantibacillus plantarum AR113 on its colonization in vivo

Lactiplantibacillus plantarum is selective for carbohydrate utilization, which is primarily regulated by the catabolic control protein A (ccpA). To investigate the impact of carbohydrate metabolism on the in vivo colonization of L. plantarum AR113, we constructed a ccpA knockout strain (AR113ΔccpA). In vitro assays showed that AR113ΔccpA had a 0.34 decrease in maximum biomass, and a 2.63 h increase in hysteresis time compared to AR113. In a single administration, there was no significant difference in the number of AR113 and AR113ΔccpA in the mucus layers, and the number of AR113 was approximately 34-times higher than AR113ΔccpA at 48 h in the intestinal lumen. Notably, the knockout of the ccpA gene did not affect the colonization time of AR113 in the intestine during continuous administration. Therefore, the present work demonstrated that the ccpA did not play a crucial role in the in vivo colonization time of AR113 and provided valuable insights into the role of carbohydrate metabolism in bacterial colonization time in vivo.