Abstract
The bifidobacterial and lactobacillus populations of fecal samples collected from two human subjects during a 12-month period were studied. The total numbers of bifidobacteria were stable throughout the study period in both subjects, but lactobacillus numbers were less constant. Analysis of the composition of the bifidobacterial populations by using ribotyping or pulsed-field gel electrophoresis to differentiate between bacterial strains demonstrated major differences between the subjects. Subject 1 harbored five strains of bifidobacteria throughout the 12-month period, and one strain was numerically predominant. In contrast, subject 2 harbored a more complex bifidobacterial population (five to six strains per sample) whose composition fluctuated throughout the 12 months. One lactobacillus strain was numerically predominant throughout the study in both subjects. Strains of bifidobacteria and lactobacilli common to both subjects were not detected.
Full Text
The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (325.0 KB).
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Finegold S. M., Attebery H. R., Sutter V. L. Effect of diet on human fecal flora: comparison of Japanese and American diets. Am J Clin Nutr. 1974 Dec;27(12):1456–1469. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/27.12.1456. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Hartley C. L., Clements H. M., Linton K. B. Escherichia coli in the faecal flora of man. J Appl Bacteriol. 1977 Oct;43(2):261–269. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2672.1977.tb00750.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Mitsuoka T., Kaneuchi C. Ecology of the bifidobacteria. Am J Clin Nutr. 1977 Nov;30(11):1799–1810. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/30.11.1799. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Rodtong S., Tannock G. W. Differentiation of Lactobacillus strains by ribotyping. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1993 Oct;59(10):3480–3484. doi: 10.1128/aem.59.10.3480-3484.1993. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Savage D. C. Microbial ecology of the gastrointestinal tract. Annu Rev Microbiol. 1977;31:107–133. doi: 10.1146/annurev.mi.31.100177.000543. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Schwartz D. C., Saffran W., Welsh J., Haas R., Goldenberg M., Cantor C. R. New techniques for purifying large DNAs and studying their properties and packaging. Cold Spring Harb Symp Quant Biol. 1983;47(Pt 1):189–195. doi: 10.1101/sqb.1983.047.01.024. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Tannock G. W., Fuller R., Pedersen K. Lactobacillus succession in the piglet digestive tract demonstrated by plasmid profiling. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1990 May;56(5):1310–1316. doi: 10.1128/aem.56.5.1310-1316.1990. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]