D-Lactate-utilizing bacteria play important roles in maintaining the balance of gut lactate; however, studies on gut D-lactate-uti-lizing bacteria have been limited. This study aimed to isolate and identify D-lactate-utilizing bacteria from pig gut using the Hungate rol-tube method, and to investigate their metabolic characteristicsin vitro. Six different anaerobes were isolated from pig feces, which were identiifed as related toBacteroides fragilis, Bacteroides acidifaciens,Veilonela denticariosi, Veilonela caviae,Bacteroides uniformis, andMegasphaera elsdenibased on the 16S rRNA gene sequences. Al strains had a signiifcant ability to utilize D-lactate, which was concluded afterin vitro fermentation with 25 mmol L–1 D-lactate as the primary carbon source. Of al 6 strains,M. elsdeniJ6 showed the highest efifciency of D-lactate utilization and produced a higher ratio of butyrate in total short chain fatty acids （SCFAs）. Thus, thein vitro fermentation characteristics of this strain in D-, L-, and DL-lactate mixtures （D-lactate：L-lactate=1：1 or 1：2） were further studied. The results showed that M. elsdeni J6 preferred utilizing D-lactate, and produced more SCFA when using D-lactate as the primary carbon source. The ifndings suggest that the administration of D-lactate-utilizing bacteria such asM. elsdeni J6 may have a potential advantage in the aleviation of D-lactic acidosis in the animal gut.
