ABSTRACT
The use of probiotics such as Lactobacillus in animal feeds has gained popularity in recent years. In this study the 16S rRNA gene sequence of L. acidophilus in two commercial agents which have been used in animal feeds, LAB-MOS and Ghenisson 22, was determined. Phylogenetic tree analysis revealed that the two agents, strain MNFLM01 in LAB-MOS and strain GAL-2 in Ghenisson 22, belonged to L. rhamnosus (a member of the L. casei group) and L. johnsonii (a member of the L. acidophilus group), respectively. Biochemical tests assigned the two as L. rhamnosus and ambiguously as L. acidophilus. The data suggest that 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis provides more accurate identification of Lactobacillus species than biochemical tests and would allow quality assurance of relevant commercial products. The 16S rRNA gene sequences of strains MNFLM01 and GAL-2 determined in this study have been submitted to the DDBJ/EMBL/GenBank accession numbers under accession numbers AB288235 and AB295648, respectively.