Lantibiotic-producing bacteria impact microbiome resilience and colonization resistance

In this study, we investigate the presence of lanthipeptides in fecal samples that have undergone shallow-shotgun sequencing from healthy human donors as well as liver disease, liver transplant, heart transplant, and medical intensive care unit (MICU) patients. Using 16S rRNA gene sequencing of mouse fecal pellets, we demonstrate that the lantibiotic-producing bacterium Blautia pseudococcoides SCSK prevents intestinal recolonization of mice by a wide range of commensal species following antibiotic-induced dysbiosis and markedly reduces fecal concentrations of microbiota-derived metabolites. Blautia producta KH6, a closely related Blautia strain that lacks a known lantibiotic, does not have the same effect. Lantibiotic-mediated dysbiosis results in sustained loss of colonization resistance against Klebsiella pneumoniae and Clostridioides difficile infection.