Porcine lactic acid bacterial strains

1. A composition comprising at least one porcine lactic acid bacterial strain wherein said at least one porcine lactic acid bacterial strain is selected from the group consisting of:

NCIMB 41846;

NCIMB 41847;

NCIMB 41848;

NCIMB 41849;

NCIMB 41850;

NCIMB 42008;

NCIMB 42009;

NCIMB 42010;

NCIMB 42011;

NCIMB 42012; and any combination of two or more thereof;

and an excipient, diluent or carrier;

wherein said at least one porcine lactic acid bacterial strain is in an amount sufficient to treat or prevent an intestinal disorder in a subject.

2. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the excipient, diluent or carrier is a pharmaceutically acceptable excipient, diluent or carrier.

3. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the composition is a probiotic composition comprising one or more porcine lactic acid bacterial strains.

4. A method of treating an intestinal disorder in a subject, said method comprising administering to the subject the composition of claim 1 .

5. A method of improving intestinal microbiota in a subject, said method comprising administering to the subject the composition of claim 1 .

6. A feedstuff comprising the composition of claim 1 .

7. A food product comprising the composition of claim 1 .

8. A dietary supplement comprising the composition of claim 1 .

9. A food additive comprising the composition of claim 1 .

10. A process for producing the composition of claim 1 , said process comprising culturing at least one porcine lactic acid bacterial strain in a culture medium and recovering said at least one porcine lactic acid bacterial strain from the culture medium; wherein said at least one porcine lactic acid bacterial strain is selected from the group consisting of:

NCIMB 41846; NCIMB 41847; NCIMB 41848; NCIMB 41849; NCIMB 41850; NCIMB 42008; NCIMB 42009; NCIMB 42010; NCIMB 42011; NCIMB 42012; and any combination of two or more thereof; and

mixing said porcine lactic acid bacterial strain with an excipient, diluent or carrier.

11. A method of preparing one or more porcine lactic acid bacterial strains, said method comprising the steps of:

(i) obtaining faeces from an organically reared pig;

(ii) freezing the faeces and dispersing in a suitable diluent;

(iii) applying the dispersed faeces obtained in step (ii) to a suitable agar, optionally in the presence of supplemental pig colostrum carbohydrates, and incubating under an anaerobic conditions;

(iv) selecting off distinct colonies of bacteria formed during step (iii) and seeding into a suitable broth, optionally in the presence of supplemental pig colostrum carbohydrates;

(v) incubating the seeded colonies obtained in step (iv) and

(vi) obtaining an aliquot of the incubated broth, said aliquot comprising one or more porcine lactic acid bacterial strains selected from the group consisting of: NCIMB 41846; NCIMB 41847; NCIMB 41848; NCIMB 41849; NCIMB 41850; NCIMB 42008; NCIMB 42009; NCIMB 42010; NCIMB 42011; NCIMB 42012; and any combination of two or more thereof.

12. A lactic acid bacterial strain comprising a 16S rRNA gene sequence selected from SEQ ID NOs 1-87, or a variant or homologue thereof of said sequence.

13. The method of claim 4 , wherein the intestinal disorder is selected from the group consisting of: salmonellosis, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), inflammatory bowel disorder (IBD), functional dyspepsia, functional constipation, functional diarrhea, functional abdominal pain, functional bloating, Epigastric Pain Syndrome, Postprandial Distress Syndrome, Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), necrotizing enterocolitis, and combinations thereof.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the intestinal disorder is functional diarrhea, and wherein the functional diarrhea is selected from the group consisting of antibiotic associated diarrhea, traveler's diarrhea and pediatric diarrhea.