TABLE 6.
Distribution of Bifidobacterium species in human adults and infantsa
| Taxon or combination | No. of positive samples (% of total)
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Adults (n = 48) | Infants (n = 27) | |
| Species | ||
| B. adolescentis | 29 (60) | 2 (7.4) |
| B. angulatum | 2 (4.2) | 1 (3.7) |
| B. bifidum | 18 (38) | 6 (22) |
| B. breve | 6 (13) | 19 (70) |
| B. catenulatum group | 44 (92) | 5 (19) |
| B. longum | 31 (65) | 10 (37) |
| B. infantis | 0 (0) | 11 (41) |
| B. dentium | 3 (6.3) | 3 (11) |
| B. gallicum | 0 (0) | 0 (0) |
| Combinations of: | ||
| One species | 8 (17) | 9 (33) |
| Two species | 9 (19) | 5 (19) |
| Three species | 14 (29) | 6 (22) |
| Four species | 15 (31) | 2 (7.4) |
| Five species | 0 (0) | 1 (3.7) |
| Six species | 1 (2.1) | 0 (0) |
| Seven species | 0 (0) | 1 (3.7) |
| No bifidobacteria | 1 (2.1) | 3 (11) |
a
The adults were 38.8 ± 8.9 years old (mean ± standard deviation), and the infants were 31.2 ± 4.5 days old. The number of species detected per sample was 2.8 ± 1.2 (mean ± standard deviation) for the adults and 2.1 ± 1.6 for the infants.