AEM Accepts, published online ahead of print on 23 October 2009

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Appl. Environ. Microbiol. doi:10.1128/AEM.01683-09
Copyright (c) 2009, American Society for Microbiology and/or the Listed Authors/Institutions. All Rights Reserved.

Distribution of in Vitro Fermentation Ability of Lacto-N-Biose I, a Major Building Block of Human Milk Oligosaccharides, in Bifidobacterial Strains

Jin-zhong Xiao^*, Sachiko Takahashi, Mamoru Nishimoto, Toshitaka Odamaki, Tomoko Yaeshima, Keiji Iwatsuki, and Motomitsu Kitaoka

Food Science and Technology Institute, Morinaga Milk Industry Co., Ltd., Kanagawa, Japan; National Food Research Institute, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization, 2-1-12 Kannondai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8642, Japan

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: j_xiao{at}morinagamilk.co.jp.

This study investigated the potential utilization of lacto-N-biose I (LNB) by individual strains of bifidobacteria. LNB is a building block of the human milk oligosaccharides, which have been suggested to be a factor for selective growth of bifidobacteria. A total of 208 strains composing 10 species and 4 subspecies were analyzed for the presence of the galacto-N-biose/lacto-N-biose I phosphorylase (GLNBP) gene (lnpA) and examined for growth when LNB was used as the sole carbohydrate source. While all strains of Bifidobacterium longum subsp. longum, B. longum subsp. infantis, B. breve and B. bifidum were able to grow on LNB, none of the strains for B. adolescentis, B. catenulatum, B. dentium, B. angulatum, B. animalis subsp. lactis, and B. thermophilum showed any growth. In addition, some strains of B. pseudocatenulatum, B. animalis subsp. animalis and B. pseudolongum exhibited the ability to utilize LNB. With the exception for B. pseudocatenulatum, the presence of lnpA coincided with the LNB utilization among almost all strains. These results indicate that bifidobacterial species, which are the predominant species found in infant intestines, are potential utilizers of LNB. These findings support the hypothesis that GLNBP plays a key role in the colonization of bifidobacteria in infant intestine.