Aim: This study investigates the colonization rate of Akkermansia muciniphila in the gastrointestinal tracts of people living in southern China and applies a modified method for the isolation and subtyping of A. muciniphila strains from faecal samples.
Methods and results: Fresh faecal samples were collected and bacterial DNA was extracted from these samples for real-time PCR analysis. Strains were separated using a culture-dependent sPCR-directed method and classified using an enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus (ERIC-PCR) DNA fingerprinting method. The colonization rate for the sample population from southern China was 51·74%. We isolated 22 strains from human faeces. The results revealed that all strains were identifiable as A. muciniphila with 99-100% identity to the type-strain ATCC BAA-835. ERIC-PCR resulted in grouping of the DNA fingerprints showed that 12 distinct clusters were distinguished with a delineation level of 100%.
Conclusions: Southern China has a high rate of A. muciniphila colonization and over 12 different subtype strains reside in faecal samples.
Significance and impact of the study: Akkermansia muciniphila has a beneficial role in human gastrointestinal tract. These studies provide a better understanding of A. muciniphila and details of its colonization in the human gastrointestinal tract.
Keywords: Akkermansia muciniphila; ERIC-PCR; colonization rate; real-time PCR; subtyping.
© 2015 The Authors published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society for Applied Microbiology.