Abstract
Bifidobacteria are among the first colonisers of the gastrointestinal tract of breast-fed newborns due to, among other things, their ability to metabolise oligosaccharides naturally occurring in human milk. The presence of bifidobacteria in the infant gut has been shown to promote intestinal health and homeostasis as well as to preserve a functional gut barrier, thus positively influencing host health and well-being. Among human-associated gut commensals, Bifidobacterium bifidum has been described as the only species capable of the extracellular degradation of both mucin-type glycans and HMOs, thereby giving this species a special role as a commensal gut forager of both host and diet-derived glycans. In the present study, we assess the possible beneficial properties and probiotic potential of B. bifidum strain CNCM I-4319. In silico genome analysis and growth experiments confirmed the expected ability of this strain to consume HMOs and mucin. By employing various animal models, we were also able to assess the ability of B. bifidum CNCM I-4319 to preserve gut integrity and functionality from stress-induced and inflammatory damage, thereby enforcing its potential as an effective probiotic strain.
Highlights
Bifidobacteria represent a group of commensal microorganisms that commonly inhabit the gastrointestinal (GI) tract of various animals, especially humans and other mammals [1]
The genome of B. bifidum CNCM I-4319 was predicted to harbour 1759 genes, 3 Ribosomal RNA (rRNA) loci and 53 transfer RNA (tRNA), values that are in line with previous reports [12,58] (Table 1)
Genome analysis and functional characterisation of B. bifidum CNCM I-4319 suggest that this strain represents a suitable candidate for probiotic supplementation targeted at infants
Summary
Bifidobacteria represent a group of commensal microorganisms that commonly inhabit the gastrointestinal (GI) tract of various animals, especially humans and other mammals [1]. They represent the most abundant taxon of the infant gut microbiota (their relative abundance can reach 90%), with certain species being prevalent and abundant among the gut microbiota of vaginally-delivered, breast-fed infants, where their high numerical presence is believed to reflect a positive health status [2,3]. The carbohydrate-focused metabolism of bifidobacteria is reflected by their genome, which typically encodes a range of extracellular and intracellular glycosyl hydrolases (GHs), allowing the degradation, internalisation and metabolism of a variety of saccharidic compounds [5,7,8,9]. The Bifidobacterium pan-genome consists of one of the largest predicted glycobiomes among gut commensals, encoding a large number of predicted carbohydrate-active enzymes, including GHs, glycosyl transferases (GTs), and carbohydrate esterases [6]
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