Two extracellular α-arabinofuranosidases are required for cereal-derived arabinoxylan metabolism by subsp. .

Members of the genus are commonly found in the human gut and are known to utilize complex carbohydrates that are indigestible by the human host. Members of the subsp. taxon can metabolize various plant-derived carbohydrates common to the human diet.

Complete Genome Sequence of ML061-4 Isolated from Assam Tea Leaf [ var. (J.W.Mast.) Kitam.].

is a Gram-positive coccoid organism that is a member of the lactic acid bacteria. ML061-4 was originally isolated from the surface of an Assam tea leaf, and its genome is herein shown to contain gene clusters predicted to be involved in complex carbohydrate metabolism and biosynthesis of secondary metabolites.

Detailed mapping of Bifidobacterium strain transmission from mother to infant via a dual culture-based and metagenomic approach.

A significant proportion of the infant gut microbiome is considered to be acquired from the mother during and after birth. Thus begins a lifelong and dynamic relationship with microbes that has an enduring impact on host health. Based on a cohort of 135 mother-infant (F = 72, M = 63) dyads (MicrobeMom: ISRCTN53023014), we investigated the phenomenon of microbial strain transfer, with a particular emphasis on the use of a combined metagenomic-culture-based approach to determine the frequency of strain transfer involving members of the genus Bifidobacterium, including species/strains present at low relative abundance.

Preparing for the next pandemic: lessons learnt from the implementation of point-of-care SARS-CoV-2 testing in an emergency department.

Point-of-care testing (POCT) provides rapid, accurate results that facilitate diagnosis and patient management. POCT for infectious agents allows timely infection prevention and control interventions and informs decisions around safe patient placement. However, POCT implementation requires careful governance as they are primarily operated by staff with limited prior education on laboratory quality control and assurance processes.

Ability of Bifidobacterium breve 702258 to transfer from mother to infant: the MicrobeMom randomized controlled trial.

Background: The composition of the infant microbiome can have a variety of short- and long-term implications for health. It is unclear if maternal probiotic supplementation in pregnancy can affect the infant gut microbiome.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate if maternal supplementation of a formulation of Bifidobacterium breve 702258 from early pregnancy until 3 months postpartum could transfer to the infant gut.

Interactions between symptoms and psychological status in irritable bowel syndrome: An exploratory study of the impact of a probiotic combination.

Background: Stress is an exacerbator of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) symptoms, and anxiety and depression are co-morbidities. Bifidobacterium longum strains 1714® and 35642® attenuate stress responses in healthy people and reduce symptoms in IBS, respectively. Here, we explore relationships between the psychological and visceral effects of the two strains (COMBO) in IBS subjects and biomarkers of stress and inflammation.

Needle in a Whey-Stack: PhRACS as a Discovery Tool for Unknown Phage-Host Combinations.

The field of metagenomics has rapidly expanded to become the go-to method for complex microbial community analyses. However, there is currently no straightforward route from metagenomics to traditional culture-based methods of strain isolation, particularly in (bacterio)phage biology, leading to an investigative bottleneck. Here, we describe a method that exploits specific phage receptor binding protein (RBP)-host cell surface receptor interaction enabling isolation of phage-host combinations from an environmental sample.

Preterm infants harbour diverse populations, including atypical species that encode and produce an array of antimicrobial resistance- and virulence-associated factors.

spp. are frequently enriched in the gut microbiota of preterm neonates, and overgrowth is associated with necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), nosocomial infections and late-onset sepsis. Little is known about the genomic and phenotypic characteristics of preterm-associated , as previous studies have focused on the recovery of antimicrobial-resistant isolates or culture-independent molecular analyses.

Breast milk-derived human milk oligosaccharides promote Bifidobacterium interactions within a single ecosystem.

Diet-microbe interactions play an important role in modulating the early-life microbiota, with Bifidobacterium strains and species dominating the gut of breast-fed infants. Here, we sought to explore how infant diet drives distinct bifidobacterial community composition and dynamics within individual infant ecosystems. Genomic characterisation of 19 strains isolated from breast-fed infants revealed a diverse genomic architecture enriched in carbohydrate metabolism genes, which was distinct to each strain, but collectively formed a pangenome across infants.

Exploring the role of the microbiota member Bifidobacterium in modulating immune-linked diseases.

The gut-associated microbiota is essential for multiple physiological processes, including immune development. Acquisition of our initial pioneer microbial communities, including the dominant early life genus Bifidobacterium, occurs at a critical period of immune maturation and programming. Bifidobacteria are resident microbiota members throughout our lifetime and have been shown to modulate specific immune cells and pathways.

Glycolysis and pyrimidine biosynthesis are required for replication of adherent-invasive Escherichia coli in macrophages.

Adherent-invasive Escherichia coli (AIEC) have been implicated in the aetiology of Crohn's disease (CD), a chronic inflammatory bowel condition. It has been proposed that AIEC-infected macrophages produce high levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines thus contributing to the inflammation observed in CD. AIEC can replicate in macrophages and we wanted to determine if bacterial replication was linked to the high level of cytokine production associated with AIEC-infected macrophages.

Differences in N-acetylation genotypes between Caucasians and Black South Africans: implications for cancer prevention.

Polymorphic N-acetyltransferase genes (NAT1 and NAT2) determine rapid or slow acetylation phenotypes, which are believed to affect cancer risk related to environmental exposure. Black South Africans have a unique incidence pattern of environment-related cancers, but genetic characteristics of this population are mostly unknown. In this study, we compared NAT1 and NAT2 allele distributions in 101 Black South Africans and 112 UK Caucasians.