Bifidobacterium bifidum ATCC 15696 and Bifidobacterium breve 24b Metabolic Interaction Based on 2′- O -Fucosyl-Lactose Studied in Steady-State Cultures in a Freter-Style Chemostat

This study addresses the microbiology and function of a natural ecosystem (the infant bowel) usingin vitro experimentation with bacterial cultures maintained under controlled growth and environmental conditions. We studied the growth of bifidobacteria whose nutrition centered on the hydrolysis of a human milk oligosaccharide. The results revealed responses relating to metabolism occurring in aBifidobacterium bifidum strain when it provided nutrients that allowed the growth ofBifidobacterium breve , and so discovered biochemical features of these bifidobacteria in relation to metabolic interaction in the shared environment. These kinds of experiments are essential in developing concepts of bifidobacterial ecology that relate to the development of the gut microbiota in early life.