Open AccessThe Integrated Probiotic Database: a genomic compendium of bifidobacterial health-promoting strains
Author(s) -
Chiara Tarracchini,
Martina Viglioli,
Gabriele Andrea Lugli,
Leonardo Mancabelli,
Federico Fontana,
Giulia Alessandri,
Francesca Turroni,
Marco Ventura,
Christian Milani
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
microbiome research reports
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2771-5965
DOI - 10.20517/mrr.2021.13
Subject(s) - probiotic , biology , bifidobacterium breve , context (archaeology) , bifidobacterium longum , bifidobacterium animalis , genome , bifidobacterium bifidum , bifidobacterium , microbiology and biotechnology , genetics , gene , bacteria , lactobacillus , lactobacillus acidophilus , paleontology
Background: The World Health Organization defines probiotics as “live microorganisms, which when administered in adequate amounts confer a health benefit on the host”. In this framework, probiotic strains should be regarded as safe for human and animal consumption, i.e., they should possess the GRAS (generally recognized as safe) status, notified by the local authorities. Consistently, strains of selected Bifidobacterium species are extensively used as probiotic agents to prevent and ameliorate a broad spectrum of human and/or animal gastrointestinal disorders. Even though probiotic properties are often genus- or species-associated, strain-level differences in the genetic features conferring individual probiotic properties to commercialized bifidobacterial strains have not been investigated in detail. Methods: In this study, we built a genomic database named Integrated Probiotic DataBase (IPDB), whose first iteration consists of common bifidobacterial strains used in probiotic products for which public genome sequences were available, such as members of B. longum subsp. longum, B. longum subsp. infantis, B. bifidum, B. breve, and B. animalis subsp. lactis taxa. Furthermore, the IPDB was exploited to perform comparative genome analyses focused on genetic factors conferring structural, functional, and chemical features predicted to be involved in microbe-host and microbe-microbe interactions. Results and conclusion: Our analyses revealed strain-level genetic differences, underlining the importance of inspecting the strain-specific and outcome-specific efficacy of probiotics. In this context, IPDB represents a valuable resource for obtaining genetic information of well-established bifidobacterial probiotic strains.