Bifidobacterium longum NCC2705
Names | Bifidobacterium longum NCC2705 |
---|---|
Accession numbers | NC_004307, NC_004943 |
Background | Bifidobacteria, called probiotics, are a natural part of the bacterial flora in the human body and have a symbiotic bacteria-host relationship with humans. B. longum promotes good digestion, boosts the immune system, and produces lactic and acetic acid that controls intestinal pH. These bacteria also inhibit the growth of Candida albicans, E. coli, and other bacteria that have more pathogenic qualities than Bifidobacteria.The circular chromosome of Bifidobacterium longum has a genome approximately 2,260,000 bp in length with a 60% G-C content. More research is being done on sequencing other species of Bifidobacterium, especially to understand its probiotic qualities.Bifidobacterium is a Gram-positive, anaerobic, branched rod-shaped bacterium. In the intestines, they ferment sugars to produce lactic acid. The B. longum genome codes for many proteins specialized for the catabolism of oligosaccharides. This bacterium also is able to use so-called "nondigestible" plant polymers or host-derived glycoproteins and glcoconjugates; it is thought that Bifidobacterium's ability to compete with other gastrointestinal bacteria and occupy a large percentage in the bacterial flora of the gastrointestinal region might be partly due to the large variety of molecules that it is able to use for energy (Schell et al. 2002). Bifidobacteria have a unique hexose metabolism that occurs through a phosphoketolase pathway. This pathway, called the bifid shunt, uses the key enzyme frutose-6-phosphate phosphoketolase (F6PPK) and is the generally used as a diagnostic test for this Bifidobacteria because it's not found in other gram-positive intestinal bacteria.While Bifidobacterium infantis, B. brevi, and B. longum are the largest bacteria group in the intestines of infants, Bifidobacteria are said to be only the 3rd or 4th largest group of bacteria in adults (and only 3-6% of adult fecal flora). The number of these bacteria actually decline in the human body with age. In infants who are breast-fed, Bifidobacteria constitute about 90% of their intestinal bacteria; however, this number is lower in bottle-fed infants. When breast-fed infants' diets are changed to cows milk and solid food, Bifidobacteria are joined by rising numbers of other bacteria found in the human body such as Bacteroides and Streptococci lactobacilli. The lower number of Bifidobacteria in formula-fed babies might account for a higher risk of diarrhea and allergies that is usually associated with babies who aren't breast-fed; in addition, because Bifidobacteria produces lactic acid instead of gas (like E. coli), infants and people in general with more Bifidobacteria than other bacteria will have less gas and digestive problems.Bifidobacteria as well as other benefical bacteria can be found in fermented dairy foods, especially yogurt. Eating substances rich with these probiotics is a sort of home remedy for diarrhea, vaginitis, and yeast infections because it promotes the growth of these as opposed to other bacteria. (From http://microbewiki.kenyon.edu/index.php/Bifidobacterium) (MicrobeWiki: Bifidobacterium) |
Taxonomy | |
Kingdom: | Bacteria |
Phylum: | Actinobacteria |
Class: | Actinobacteria |
Order: | Bifidobacteriales |
Family: | Bifidobacteriaceae |
Genus: | Bifidobacterium |
Species: | longum |
Strain | NCC2705 |
Complete | Yes |
Sequencing centre | (02-OCT-2002) National Center for Biotechnology Information, NIH, Bethesda, MD 20894, USA (27-AUG-2002) Bioscience, Nestle Research Center, P.O. Box 44, Lausanne 26 1000, Switzerland |
Sequencing quality | Level 6: Finished |
Sequencing depth | NA |
Sequencing method | NA |
Isolation site | Infant feces |
Isolation country | NA |
Number of replicons | 2 |
Gram staining properties | Positive |
Shape | Bacilli |
Mobility | No |
Flagellar presence | No |
Number of membranes | 1 |
Oxygen requirements | Anaerobic |
Optimal temperature | 37.0 |
Temperature range | Mesophilic |
Habitat | HostAssociated |
Biotic relationship | Free living |
Host name | Homo sapiens |
Cell arrangement | NA |
Sporulation | Nonsporulating |
Metabolism | NA |
Energy source | NA |
Diseases | None |
Pathogenicity | No |
Glycolysis / Gluconeogenesis
Citrate cycle (TCA cycle)
Pentose phosphate pathway
Galactose metabolism
Purine metabolism
Pyrimidine metabolism
Alanine, aspartate and glutamate metabolism
Glycine, serine and threonine metabolism
Cysteine and methionine metabolism
Valine, leucine and isoleucine biosynthesis
Lysine biosynthesis
Histidine metabolism
Phenylalanine, tyrosine and tryptophan biosynthesis
Selenocompound metabolism
D-Glutamine and D-glutamate metabolism
D-Alanine metabolism
Streptomycin biosynthesis
Peptidoglycan biosynthesis
C5-Branched dibasic acid metabolism
One carbon pool by folate
Thiamine metabolism
Vitamin B6 metabolism
Nicotinate and nicotinamide metabolism
Pantothenate and CoA biosynthesis
Folate biosynthesis
Terpenoid backbone biosynthesis
Aminoacyl-tRNA biosynthesis
Citrate cycle (TCA cycle)
Pentose phosphate pathway
Galactose metabolism
Purine metabolism
Pyrimidine metabolism
Alanine, aspartate and glutamate metabolism
Glycine, serine and threonine metabolism
Cysteine and methionine metabolism
Valine, leucine and isoleucine biosynthesis
Lysine biosynthesis
Histidine metabolism
Phenylalanine, tyrosine and tryptophan biosynthesis
Selenocompound metabolism
D-Glutamine and D-glutamate metabolism
D-Alanine metabolism
Streptomycin biosynthesis
Peptidoglycan biosynthesis
C5-Branched dibasic acid metabolism
One carbon pool by folate
Thiamine metabolism
Vitamin B6 metabolism
Nicotinate and nicotinamide metabolism
Pantothenate and CoA biosynthesis
Folate biosynthesis
Terpenoid backbone biosynthesis
Aminoacyl-tRNA biosynthesis
NCBI Genomes
NC_004307NC_004943