Clostridiales in the Gut Against Listeria monocytogenes Infection Through Growth Inhibition

Listeria monocytogenes (Lm) mainly infect pregnant women, children, the elderly, and other populations with low immunity causing septicemia and meningitis. Healthy people can tolerate higher doses of Lm and only cause gastrointestinal symptoms such as abdominal pain and diarrhea after infection. Compared to the above population, healthy people have a richer and more diverse gut microbiota. In this study, we show that the microbiota in the large intestine and the feces of mice can significantly inhibit the growth of Lm compared to the microbiota in the small intestine. Bacteria larger than 1 μm in the gut microbiota play an important role in inhibiting Lm growth. 16s rRNA sequencing results show that these bacteria are mainly composed of Clostridiales under the phylum Firmicutes, including Ruminiclostridium, Butyricicoccus, Lachnoclostridium, Roseburia, Coprooccus, and Blautia. Thus, we demonstrate that there are some potential functional bacteria in the gut microbiota that can increase resistance against Lm.