Development of the Science of Lactic acid bacteria and Bifidobacteria

Abstract

The recent development of research on lactic acid bacteria and bifidobacteria in the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the Japan Society for Lactic Acid Bacteria is remarkable. In particular, it is no exaggeration to say that the field of research on bifidobacteria is one of the fields that have developed remarkably in the past 10 years or so. That is, the metabolic pathway of bifidobacteria for human milk oligosaccharides has been clarified, and especially, the research on the transporter of them has been advanced, and the relation with the formation of Bifidus flora in the intestine of the host has been clarified. Furthermore, a rational mechanism for cross-feeding between different bifidobacterial species has been elucidated on the basis of transporter knowledge. In addition, degrading enzymes for indigestible carbohydrates and adhesion factor to the intestine, which are thought to be provided as a survival strategy for bifidobacteria in an oligotrophic environment, have been found. Moreover, their anti-aging effects and involvement in diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease have been suggested. Studies of the structure and function of extracellular polysaccharides secreted by lactic acid bacteria as probiotics have also progressed remarkably.

These new findings are reviewed in this article.