BioSample

Mastitis, the inflammation of the mammary gland, is one of the most frequent diseases of dairy animals and a leading cause of economic losses to farmers and the dairy industry. Mastitis is also one of the main reasons for antibiotic use in dairy farms contributing to the development and spread of antibiotic resistance through the food chain. Here, we describe a pipeline for developing a probiotic, biofilm-inspired alternative for mastitis prevention. We isolated and characterized putative probiotic bacteria from healthy cows udders without a history of mastitis. We subsequently identified two promising isolates Bacillus subtilis O4 and Lactiplantibacillus plantarum V1, with complementary properties. L. plantarum V1 showed potent inhibition of mastitis-causing pathogens via soluble and volatile compounds that were further identified. Induced biofilm formation by B. subtilis O4 enabled the development of an encapsulation system to protect L. plantarum V1 in environmental conditions. When combined cultures of both strains were applied in vivo as a probiotic teat dipping formulation, L. plantarum V1 showed excellent survival on the teat skin and altered the residing microbiota. We propose a novel natural probiotic treatment that can potentially be used in mastitis control.