6 Key excerpts on "Bifidobacterium"

• 

  eBook - ePub

  Diet-Microbe Interactions in the Gut

  Effects on Human Health and Disease

  • Kieran Tuohy, Daniele Del Rio(Authors)
  • 2014(Publication Date)
  • Academic Press

    (Publisher)

  Chapter 4

  Bifidobacteria of the Human Gut

  Our Special Friends

  Marco Ventura* , Francesca Turroni† and Douwe van Sinderen† ,    *Laboratory of Probiogenomics, Department of Life Sciences, University of Parma, Italy ,    

  † Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre and Department of Microbiology, Biosciences Institute, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland

  Microorganisms live in a myriad of ecological niches. The human intestine is among the most densely populated environments; here, a multitude of bacteria appears to have co-evolved to beneficially impact on the health of their human host. In this chapter we discuss several fascinating relationships that exist between the mammalian gastrointestinal tract and its resident bifidobacteria, as a prototypical group of health-promoting human enteric microorganisms.

  Keywords

  Gut microbiota; Bifidobacteria; Host–Microbe cross-talk; Genomic

  Taxonomy of Bifidobacteria

  The genus Bifidobacterium belongs to the phylum Actinobacteria , one of the dominant phyla of the kingdom Bacteria, with five subclasses, six orders, and 14 suborders. This phylum includes Gram-positive microorganisms, whose genomic DNA contains a high G+C content, ranging from 51% (Corynebacterium ) to 70% (Streptomyces and Frankia ). An exception to this is the genome of the obligate pathogen Tropheryma whipplei , with less than 50% G+C.1

  The Actinobacteria phylum includes a large variety of species exhibiting different cell morphologies (from coccoid to fragmenting hyphal), possessing various physiological metabolic properties and occupying diverse ecological niches. With respect to the latter, the phylum Actinobacteria includes genera originating from a wide variety of ecological environments, and includes, among others, soil inhabitants (Streptomyces ), plant commensals (Leifsonia ), nitrogen-fixing symbionts (Frankia ) and gastrointestinal commensals (Bifidobacterium ). Actinobacterial members also include microorganisms that interact with the human host, some of which are disease-causing, examples of which are certain members of the genera Corynebacterium , Mycobacterium , Nocardia , Tropheryma and Propionibacterium , while others represent bacteria exerting health-promoting activities on their hosts such as particular members of the genus Bifidobacterium

  Sign up to read

  Learn more about book
• 

  eBook - ePub

  Innovative Food Science and Emerging Technologies

  • Sabu Thomas, Rajendran Rajakumari, Anne George, Nandakumar Kalarikkal, Sabu Thomas, Rajendran Rajakumari, Anne George, Nandakumar Kalarikkal(Authors)
  • 2018(Publication Date)
  • Apple Academic Press

    (Publisher)

  Probiotics are the preparation of live microorganisms which beneficially affect the host by improving the properties of indigenous microbes. Probiotics are used to improve intestinal health and stimulate the immune system. Due to various health benefits to the host, probiotics are increasingly gaining importance and are a subject of extensive research. This review focuses on the history, concept, and criteria for the selection of probiotics. The health-related effects as well as the types of probiotics currently used are well explained. Commercially, the probiotics have been incorporated in various products such as dairy-based ones including fermented milk, ice cream, buttermilk, milk powder, and yogurts and non-dairy based such as soy-based products, cereals, and a variety of juices as appropriate means of probiotic delivery to the consumer. Desirable probiotic properties such as acid tolerance, bile tolerance, and antimicrobial activity are discussed further. Many mechanisms from the studies are trying to explain how probiotics could protect the host from the intestinal disorders. These mechanisms are briefly listed in the review. Summarily, in this review, the well detailed history of probiotics, their applications in the food as well as health area and future prospects of probiotic products and processes are discussed.

  2.1 Introduction

  The word “probiotic” comes from Greek language “pro bios” which means “for life” opposed to “antibiotics” which means “against life.” These micro-organisms are helpful in maintaining intestinal microbial balance and play a beneficial role in health. The probiotic microorganisms are mostly of the strains of the genera Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium , but strains of Bacillus , Pediococcus , and some yeasts have also been found as suitable candidates. Different enzymes, vitamins, capsules or tablets, and some fermented foods are probiotic products which contain microorganism which beneficially affects host health. They can contain one or several species of probiotic bacteria. Most of the products of human consumption are produced in fermented milk or given in powders or tablets.

  Human intestinal tract is an enormously complex ecosystem that includes both facultative anaerobic and aerobic microorganisms (Naidu et al., 1999 ). It is estimated that about 300–400 different cultivable species belonging to more than 190 genera are present in the colon of healthy adults. Among the known colonic microbial flora only a few major groups (main flora, according to Gedek (1993 ) dominate at levels around 1010 –1011 /g, all of which are strict anaerobes, such as Bacteroids , Eubacteria , Bifidobacteria , and Peptostreptococci . Facultative aerobes are considered to the subdominant flora, constituting Enterobacteriaceae , lactobacilli , and streptococci. Minor groups of pathogenic and opportunistic organisms, the so-called residual flora according to Gedek (1993 ), are always present in low numbers. There are lots of factors that may disturb the balance of the gut microflora such as age, diet, environment, stress, and medication (Fuller, 2007). The lifestyle is changing and it is difficult to have a healthy intestine and the balance of the bacteria must be maintained. Several factors make the host susceptible to illnesses. That is why, probiotics are suggested as food to provide the balance of intestinal flora (Holzapfel et al., 1998

  Sign up to read

  Learn more about book
• 

  eBook - ePub

  Lactic Acid Bacteria

  A Functional Approach

  • Marcela Albuquerque Cavalcanti de Albuquerque, Alejandra de Moreno de LeBlanc, Jean Guy LeBlanc, Raquel Bedani, Marcela Albuquerque Cavalcanti de Albuquerque, Alejandra de Moreno de LeBlanc, Jean Guy LeBlanc, Raquel Bedani(Authors)
  • 2020(Publication Date)
  • CRC Press

    (Publisher)

  Since colonization of gut begins soon after birth and continues throughout the entire life of the individual, its microbial population is dynamic and changes in composition and activity either over time (Pluznick 2016, Sivaprakasam et al. 2016, Yousuf and Mishra 2019), or due to diseases (dysbiosis) or even in response to variations in host habits (Daliri and Lee 2015, Pluznick 2016, Sivaprakasam et al. 2016, Pekmez et al. 2019, Yousuf and Mishra 2019).

   

  1   Federal University of Pernambuco, Av. Prof. Moraes Rego 1235, Cidade Universitária, 50670-901

  Recife, PE, Brazil.

  Emails: [email protected] ; [email protected]

  2   Department of Civil, Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of Genoa, Pole of Chemical Engineering, via Opera Pia 15, 16145 Genoa, Italy.

  *   Corresponding author: [email protected]

   

  Members of Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes phyla predominate in gut microbiota, while those of Actinobacteria, Proteobacteria, Fusobacteria, Cyanobacteria and Verrucomicrobia are less abundant (Sivaprakasam et al. 2016). Bacteria of gut microbiota produce a large number of different metabolites acting as messengers between them and the host (Pluznick 2016, Sivaprakasam et al. 2018).

  Among them, the so-called probiotics are defined, according to the International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics, as living non-pathogenic microorganisms that confer a health benefit on the host when administered in adequate amounts (106 to 109 CFU/mL) (Hill et al. 2014, Daliri et al. 2019). The term “probiotic”, a word of Greek origin that means ‘for life,’ was first introduced in 1953 (Falcinelli et al. 2018). It has been estimated that the global market of probiotics will exceed $64 billion by 2022 (Quigley 2019). Although different and inter-related mechanisms are involved in probiotic activity, their positive effects on humans seem to depend especially on the immune system control, the balance between saccharolytic and proteolytic species in the intestinal microbiota, and the production of antimicrobials and other bioactive compounds (Pessione et al. 2015, Kerry et al. 2018).

  On the other hand, prebiotics are defined as ‘nondigestible compounds that modulate the composition and/or activity of the gut microbiota, thus conferring a beneficial physiological effect on the host’ (Gibson et al. 2017, Rivero-Gutiérrez et al. 2017, Pekmez et al. 2019). Carbohydrates such as inulin, frutooligosaccharides, galactooligosaccharides, lactulose, resistant starches, and other nondigestible oligosaccharides along with complex dietary fibres are the main examples of prebiotics, whose capability to escape absorption in the small bowel may be due either to their non-digestibility or because of bypassing the digestive system (Roy et al. 2006). The main health benefits of prebiotics are then related to their ability to stimulate the growth of specific bacteria, particularly lactobacilli and bifidobacteria (Pekmez et al. 2019).

  Sign up to read

  Learn more about book
• 

  eBook - ePub

  Foods That Harm, Foods That Promote Health

  A Biochemical and Nutritional Perspective in Health and Disease Prevention

  • Stefan A. Hulea, Ahmadi(Authors)
  • 2021(Publication Date)
  • Universal Publishers

    (Publisher)

  Lactobacillus plantarum

  • Bifidobacterium bifidum

  • Bifidobacterium longum

  • Bifodobacterium animalis

  • Bacillus coagulans

  All these bacteria collectively work to keep pathogenic bacteria at bay by promoting a healthy balance of microflora in the GI tract as well as helping to enhance immune response.

  This is all good it seems but the question is, are probiotics in supplements really needed by a healthy individual? New research featured in two papers published in the journal Cell 9 in September 2018 suggests that many folks “resist” making room for external probiotics delivered via supplementation, and administration of probiotics after antibiotic treatment may do more harm than good. In one of the papers, probiotics consisting of 11 of the most commonly used bacterial strains were given to 19 healthy volunteers. Out of these only 8 subjects had any notable colonization of their gut with the bacteria in the probiotics sample. In about 50% of the subjects the microbiota composition did not change after ingesting the probiotics. As noted at the beginning of the chapter we form a unique ecosystem with our GI tract microbiome and that, as research suggested appears to be resistant to outside attempts to modify it. These findings open new ways to predict who will be successfully colonized by probiotics by looking at the microbiome and expression of its genes and the immune response to it. Resistant individuals may possess a hyperactive immune response that does not allow them to accommodate new habitants in their colonic space. The second article stresses the need for further research into the practice of giving probiotics to people who underwent an antibiotic treatment because of potential adverse side effects. More on this story can be read online 10 .

  In conclusion, it is important to bear in mind that the microorganisms living in the GI tract form a sizeable inner ecosystem that influences countless aspects of health. More specifically, the type and number of microbes in the gut interact constantly with the body in ways that can either prevent or favor the development of chronic inflammation, which is at the core of many diseases, including heart disease and diabetes. The composition of microflora may even dictate the ease with which unwanted pounds can be shed. Since virtually all of us are exposed to factors that destroy beneficial bacteria in the gut such as antibiotics (either as a form of medication or contaminants in the meat from large scale animal farms), chlorinated water, antibacterial soap, agricultural chemicals and pollution, ensuring that the gut bacteria remain balanced should be considered an ongoing process.

  Sign up to read

  Learn more about book
• 

  eBook - ePub

  Handbook of Foodborne Diseases

  • Dongyou Liu, Dongyou Liu(Authors)
  • 2018(Publication Date)
  • CRC Press

    (Publisher)

  24   Bacteroides   Mario Julio Avila-Campos

  Contents 24.1Introduction 24.2Classification, Morphology, and Structure 24.3Biology and Life Cycle 24.4Epidemiology 24.5Clinical Features 24.6Pathogenesis 24.7Diagnosis 24.8Treatment 24.9Prevention 24.10Conclusion References

    24.1Introduction

  The genus Bacteroides covers a large number of strictly anaerobic or aerotolerant species that represent the most important components of the human resident intestinal microbiota. Bacteroides species living in the intestinal tract appear to be involved in processing complex molecules into simpler compounds that are used as nutrients by a human host as well as resident microbiota.

  In humans, anaerobic bacteria are prevalent in the oral cavity and in gastrointestinal and urogenital tracts. Bacteroides spp. are gram-negative rods that play a symbiotic role in the host-microbiota relationship in humans and animals. These microorganisms can be found in sites of the body other than the gastrointestinal ecosystem, and they produce abscesses.

  Bacteroides spp. may cause opportunistic infections when a normal barrier is damaged, injured, or diseased. Body sites displaying tissue destruction or necrosis due to poor blood supply are low in oxygen, and this condition favors the growth of anaerobic bacteria such as Bacteroides . A dysbiosis produced by the resident intestinal microorganisms in the gastrointestinal ecosystem can lead to endogenous infections, such as periodontal diseases, lung and brain infections, urinary or genital infections, intraabdominal abscesses, and colon cancer.

    24.2Classification, Morphology, and Structure

  Classification . Taxonomically, the genus Bacteroides belongs to the phylum Bacteroidetes , class Bacteroidia , order Bacteroidales, family Bacteroidaceae . In the ninth edition of Bergey’s manual, the family Bacteroidaceae contains three genera, Bacteroides, Porphyromonas, and Prevotella. In turn, the genus Bacteroides is separated into 42 species, which include species that were formally described as the Bacteroides fragilis

  Sign up to read

  Learn more about book
• 

  eBook - ePub

  The Gut-Brain Axis

  Dietary, Probiotic, and Prebiotic Interventions on the Microbiota

  • Niall Hyland, Catherine Stanton(Authors)
  • 2016(Publication Date)
  • Academic Press

    (Publisher)

  Int. J. Food Microbiol. 2009;135:171–174.

  Weng M, Ganguli K, Zhu W, Shi H.N, Walker W.A. Conditioned medium from Bifidobacteria infantis protects against Cronobacter sakazakii -induced intestinal inflammation in newborn mice. Am. J. Physiol. Gastrointest. Liver Physiol. 2014;306:G779–G787.

  Wu G.D, Chen J, Hoffmann C, Bittinger K, Chen Y.-Y, Keilbaugh S.A, Bewtra M, Knights D, Walters W.A, Knight R. Linking long-term dietary patterns with gut microbial enterotypes. Science. 2011;334:105–108.

  Yoon K.Y, Woodams E.E, Hang Y.D. Probiotication of tomato juice by lactic acid bacteria. J. Microbiol. (Seoul, Korea). 2004;42:315–318.

  Yoon K.Y, Woodams E.E, Hang Y.D. Production of probiotic cabbage juice by lactic acid bacteria. Biores. Technol. 2006;97:1427–1430.

  Zhang J, Wang L, Guo Z, Sun Z, Gesudu Q, Kwok L, Zhang H. 454 pyrosequencing reveals changes in the faecal microbiota of adults consuming Lactobacillus casei Zhang. FEMS Microbiol. Ecol. 2014;88:612–622.

  Zoellner S, Cruz A, Faria J, Bolini H, Moura M, Carvalho L, Sant’ana A. Whey beverage with acai pulp as a food carrier of probiotic bacteria. Aust. J. Dairy Technol.

  Sign up to read

  Learn more about book