Variation in consumption of human milk oligosaccharides by infant gut-associated strains of Bifidobacterium breve.

ABSTRACT: Human milk contains a high concentration of complex oligosaccharides that influence the composition of the intestinal microbiota in breast-fed infants. Previous studies have indicated that select species such as Bifidobacterium longum subsp. infantis and Bifidobacterium bifidum can utilize human milk oligosaccharides (HMO) in vitro as the sole carbon source, while the relatively few B. longum subsp. longum and Bifidobacterium breve isolates tested appear less adapted to these substrates. Considering the high frequency at which B. breve is isolated from breast-fed infant feces, we postulated that some B. breve strains can more vigorously consume HMO and thus are enriched in the breast-fed infant gastrointestinal tract. To examine this, a number of B. breve isolates from breast-fed infant fe

SUBMITTER: Ruiz-Moyano S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3811376 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature