Bifidobacteria: insights into the biology of a key microbial group of early life gut microbiota

Designation of optimal reference strains representing the infant gut bifidobacterial species through a comprehensive multi‐omics approach

“…The IGMC dataset was scrutinized to define the most abundant and prevalent bifidobacterial species, representing the bifidobacterial ‘core’ infant gut microbiota. Specifically, this bifidobacterial core community was defined by selecting those bifidobacterial taxa showing a prevalence of >10% and an average abundance of >0.5%, so as to consider only those species playing a relevant role in the infant gut microbiota (Turroni et al, 2021 ). In this context, B. adolescentis , B. bifidum , B. breve , B. catenulatum , B. longum, B. dentium and B. pseudocatenulatum were shown to be the most representative Bifidobacterium species across the IGMC, confirming previously published data (Arboleya et al, 2016 ; Duranti et al, 2017 ; Laursen et al, 2021 ; Milani et al, 2015 ; Turroni, Milani, Duranti, Ferrario, et al, 2018 ) (Figure 1 ) (Table S2 ) (Details are provided in the Supplementary Text S1 ).…”

“…infantis and B. longum subsp. longum represent the most prevalent and abundant bifidobacterial species of the ‘infant‐like’ gut microbiota (Arboleya et al, 2016 ; Duranti et al, 2017 ; Milani et al, 2015 ; Tarracchini et al, 2022 ; Turroni et al, 2021 ; Turroni, Milani, Duranti, Ferrario, et al, 2018 ). Furthermore, scientific interest in bifidobacteria has led to extensive isolation efforts that now allow access to a large number of strains and their corresponding genomic sequences (Saturio et al, 2021 ; Turroni et al, 2022 ), rendering this genus a suitable example to perform phylogenomic studies.…”

Bifidobacterium species viability in dairy-based probiotic foods: challenges and innovative approaches for accurate viability determination and monitoring of probiotic functionality

“…The taxonomy of the genus has been steadily changing over time due to advances in genomic characterization techniques, with the discovery of new species and subspecies in recent years (Lugli et al, 2018(Lugli et al, , 2021Neuzil-Bunesova et al, 2020;Chen et al, 2021). As of the end of 2021, there were 98 documented species of the Bifidobacterium genus (Turroni et al, 2021). The primary ecological niche of Bifidobacterium species is the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) of mammals, birds, and insects (Alessandri et al, 2021).…”

Exploring Molecular Interactions between Human Milk Hormone Insulin and Bifidobacteria

“…Colonization of this ecological niche occurs immediately after birth and is influenced by various circumstantial variables such as delivery mode (natural or C-section), type of feeding (breastfeeding or infant formula) ( 3 – 5 ), gestational age, health issues and habits of the mother ( 6 ), along with the environment ( 7 ). In this regard, in recent decades, the scientific community has invested considerable research efforts in studying the biology of members of the genus Bifidobacterium since they are not only recognized as pioneering microbial colonizers of the human gut but are also able to exert multiple beneficial effects to the host, i.e., defense against pathogens, immune system modulation, and enhancement of the mucus layer that covers the intestinal epithelium ( 2 , 8 – 14 ). Furthermore, certain bifidobacterial taxa have been shown to be transferred to the newborn through vertical transmission from their mother, and this process seems to be affected by the mother’s gut microbiota, through the birth canal, along with the microbiota present in breast milk ( 15 , 16 ).…”