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The probiotic strain Lactobacillus plantarum 299v has earlier been shown to increase iron absorption when added to foods. However, it is not known if the same probiotic strain in a freeze-dried format included in a capsule increases the iron absorption.The aim of this study was to test the hypotheses that non-heme iron absorption from a light meal is promoted by a simultaneous intake of freeze-dried Lactobacillus plantarum 299v (Lp299v, DSM 9843).With a single blinded placebo controlled sequential design, iron absorption from a light breakfast meal administered with or without capsules containing 1010 cfu freeze-dried Lp299v was studied in healthy female volunteers of fertile age. The methodology used was a double isotope technique (59Fe and 55Fe). Two studies were performed using the same protocol.In study 1, the absorption of iron from a meal without Lp299v was found to be 17.4 ± 13.4%, and from an identical meal with Lp299v was found to be 22.4 ± 17.3% (mean ± SD). This difference was statistically significant (p = 0.040, n = 14). In study 2, the absorption of iron from a meal without Lp299v was found to be 20.9 ± 13.1%, and from an identical meal with Lp299v found to be 24.5 ± 12.0% (mean ± SD, n = 28), which again was statistically significant (p = 0.003).Freeze-dried Lp299v enhances the absorption of iron when administered together with a meal with a high iron bioavailability.ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02131870.

Prophages are viruses, which have integrated their genomes into the genome of a bacterial host. The status of the prophage genome can vary from fully intact with the potential to form infective particles to a remnant state where only a few phage genes persist. Prophages have impact on the properties of their host and are therefore of great interest for genomic research and strain design. Here we present a genome- and next generation sequencing (NGS)-based approach for identification and activity evaluation of prophage regions. Seven prophage or prophage-like regions were identified in the genome of Bacillus licheniformis DSM13. Six of these regions show similarity to members of the Siphoviridae phage family. The remaining region encodes the B. licheniformis orthologue of the PBSX prophage from Bacillus subtilis. Analysis of isolated phage particles (induced by mitomycin C) from the wild-type strain and prophage deletion mutant strains revealed activity of the prophage regions BLi_Pp2 (PBSX-like), BLi_Pp3 and BLi_Pp6. In contrast to BLi_Pp2 and BLi_Pp3, neither phage DNA nor phage particles of BLi_Pp6 could be visualized. However, the ability of prophage BLi_Pp6 to generate particles could be confirmed by sequencing of particle-protected DNA mapping to prophage locus BLi_Pp6. The introduced NGS-based approach allows the investigation of prophage regions and their ability to form particles. Our results show that this approach increases the sensitivity of prophage activity analysis and can complement more conventional approaches such as transmission electron microscopy (TEM).