Lactobacillus rhamnosus bacteria, SEM
Lactobacillus rhamnosus bacteria, animated coloured scanning electron micrograph (SEM). Lactobacillus rhamnosus is particularly useful in probiotics because of its ability to adhere to cells, colonize the intestine, exclude or reduce pathogenic adherence, produce compounds antagonistic to pathogen growth, resist vaginal microbicides and form a normal, balanced flora. The ability of L. rhamnosus and other Lactobacillus species to adhere to intestinal cells promotes a variety of specific interactions with the human host to balance microflora in the gastrointestinal and urogenital systems and is therefore one of the most widely studied mechanisms of these bacteria