Biochemistry and Physiology of Bifidobacteria

Anatoly Bezkorovainy

• Publisher: CRC Press
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9780849347535
• eBook ISBN: 9781000722154
• Topic: Biological Sciences
• Subtopic: Physiology
• Index: Biological Sciences

This book provides a comprehensive reference work on this ubiquitous group of microorganisms for the biomedical community, and intends to stimulate further research into the biochemistry and physiology of bifidobacteria and their role in health and disease of newborns and even adult human beings. Discussions of bifidobacteria include chapters on nomenclature and taxonomy, ecology, morphology, metabolism, membrane and cell wall structure, clinical applications, metal transport, and future research trends. Each chapter ends with a summary. The book is amply illustrated and extensively referenced.

Chapter 1

CLASSIFICATION OF BIFIDOBACTERIA

Anatoly Bezkorovainy

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. Bifidobacteria as Members of the Genus Lactobacillus

II. The Discovery of a Multiplicity of Bifidobacterial Species

III. Genus Bifidobacterium is a Member of the Actinomycetaceae Family

IV. Summary

References

I. BIFIDOBACTERIA AS MEMBERS OF THE GENUS LACTOBACILLUS

The discovery of bifidobacteria may be traced to the work of Tissier, which appeared in print in 1899.¹ In his classic paper, Tissier described the isolation from the feces of breastfed infants of a rod-shaped microorganism, whose properties were different from those of Escherichia coli, and which was a strict anaerobe, gave a Gram-positive reaction, produced no gas during growth, and often exhibited bifid morphology. He termed this organism Bacillus bifidus. At about the same time, extensive investigations were being conducted on lactic acid-producing bacteria, and morphological and physiological similarities between B. bifidus and the so-called lactobacilli could not be easily overlooked. Thus, at the beginning of the 20th century, Orla-Jensen^2,3 made an extensive study of the various types of lactic acid-producing bacteria and systematized these on the basis of their morphology and physiology. B. bifidus was classified as belonging to the family Lactobacteriaceae. Pederson⁴ later refined Orla-Jensen’s classification on the basis of temperature sensitivity and pentose fermentation properties of these lactobacilli as shown in Figure 1.

Orla-Jensen’s work establishing B. bifidus as a separate species in the ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Preface
• The Authors
• List of Abbreviations and Symbols*
• Table of Contents
• Chapter 1 Classification of Bifidobacteria
• Chapter 2 Ecology of Bifidobacteria
• Chapter 3 Morphology of Bifidobacteria
• Chapter 4 Nutrition and Metabolism of Bifidobacteria
• Chapter 5 Structural Components of Bifidobacteria
• Chapter 6 Iron Transport and Utilization by Bifidobacteria
• Chapter 7 Bifidobacteria in Clinical Microbiology and Medicine
• Chapter 8 Epilog
• Appendix I
• Appendix II
• Section Added After Proof
• Index