Gene expression of Lactobacillus plantarum and the commensal microbiota in the ileum of healthy and early SIV-infected rhesus macaques

Chronic HIV infection results in impairment of gut-associated lymphoid tissue leading to systemic immune activation. We previously showed that in early SIV-infected rhesus macaques intestinal dysfunction is initiated with the induction of the IL-1β pathway in the small intestine and reversed by treatment with an exogenous Lactobacillus plantarum strain. Here, we provide evidence that the transcriptomes of L. plantarum and ileal microbiota are not altered shortly after SIV infection. L. plantarum adapts to the small intestine by expressing genes required for tolerating oxidative stress, modifying cell surface composition, and consumption of host glycans. The ileal microbiota of L. plantarum-containing healthy and SIV+ rhesus macaques also transcribed genes for host glycan metabolism as well as for cobalamin biosynthesis. Expression of these pathways by bacteria were proposed but not previously demonstrated in the mammalian small intestine.