Bifidobacteria ecology

Bezkorovainy, A. 1989. Ecology of bifidobacteria. In Biochemistry and Physiology of Bifidobacteria, ed. A. Bezkorovainy and R. Miller-Catchpole, pp. 29-72. Cleveland, OH CRC Press. 

Lamendella et described that Bifidobacterium cunicuU, Bifidobacterium angulatum and Bifidobacterium gallinarum show a strict ecological adaptation to a particular animal gut, in this case rabbit, human and chicken, respectively. On the other hand, bifidobacteria belonging to the species Bifidobacterium animalis, Bifidobacterium adolescentis. Bifidobacterium dentium and Bifidobacterium catenulatum appear to display a more cosmopolitan lifestyle. ... 

Bifidobacteria are common inhabitants of the mammalian gut, but are also found in three other ecological niches human blood Bifidobacterium scardovii), sewage (eg.. Bifidobacterium minimum and Bifidobacterium thermacidophilum) and food products (e.g.. Bifidobacterium, animalis subsp. lactis). These three apparently atypical ecological origins are completely different from that of the gut. However, it is plausible that the identification of bifidobacteria in these environments may have been a consequence of accidental contaminations during the sampling procedures and/or from "natural" contaminations from human/animal gut origins. 

The relative abundance of bifidobacteria within the human gut decreases with age, even if ecological analyses based on FISH and metagenomic studies estimated that their presence in the adult colon is around 4.3 4.4% of fecal microbes. In adult feces, B. adolescentis and B. catenulatum species were commonly detected, followed... 

All this genomic data provides intriguing information about specific characteristics of bifidobacteria (e.g., metabolic capabilities, genetics and phylogeny) and provides scientific support to understand the molecular mechanisms responsible for their adaptation to a specific ecological niche (see below). 

Ventura M, Canchaya C, Pitzgerald GP, Gupta RS, van Sinderen D. Genomics as a means to understand bacterial phylogeny and ecological adaptation the case of bifidobacteria. Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek. 2007, 91(4) 351—372. 

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