Use of Luciferase Genes as Biosensors To Study Bacterial Physiology in the Digestive Tract

A method based on the use of the bacterial luciferase genes was developed in order to investigate Lactococcus lactis gene expression in the mouse digestive tract. Germfree mice were monoassociated with different strains containing transcriptional fusions of promoters with the luciferase genes. Our results demonstrate that this method is readily applicable to the study of promoter strength and physiology of bacteria in the digestive tract.