Genetics of bifidobacteria
Category: Genetics
from Pablo Alvarez Martin, Simone Guglielmetti, and Baltasar Mayo in Bifidobacteria: Genomics and Molecular Aspects
Mobile genetic elements, cloning vectors and genetic manipulation of bifidobacteria.
Growth difficulties, because of their fastidious nutritive nature and oxygen sensitivity, and a lack of efficient genetic tools have impeded until recently proper development of molecular studies in Bifidobacteria. These studies, however, are critical to uncover the cross-talk between bifidobacteria and their hosts' cells, and also to prove unequivocally the supposed beneficial activities supplied through the gastrointestinal tract of mammals either endogenously or after ingestion as probiotics.
Analysis of gene sequences provided by whole genome sequencing projects has opened new avenues to decipher the genetic basis of bacteria-cell interactions and probiotic effects. However, the purposeful development of stable cloning and expression vectors based on robust replicons, either from temperate phages or resident plasmids, is additionally needed. Recent publications address the current knowledge on the mobile genetic elements of bifidobacteria (phages, plasmids, and transposons) and review the different types of vectors already available for the Bifidobacterium species, together with the transformation procedures for introducing DNA into bifidobacterial cells.
Further reading:
Mobile genetic elements, cloning vectors and genetic manipulation of bifidobacteria.
Growth difficulties, because of their fastidious nutritive nature and oxygen sensitivity, and a lack of efficient genetic tools have impeded until recently proper development of molecular studies in Bifidobacteria. These studies, however, are critical to uncover the cross-talk between bifidobacteria and their hosts' cells, and also to prove unequivocally the supposed beneficial activities supplied through the gastrointestinal tract of mammals either endogenously or after ingestion as probiotics.
Analysis of gene sequences provided by whole genome sequencing projects has opened new avenues to decipher the genetic basis of bacteria-cell interactions and probiotic effects. However, the purposeful development of stable cloning and expression vectors based on robust replicons, either from temperate phages or resident plasmids, is additionally needed. Recent publications address the current knowledge on the mobile genetic elements of bifidobacteria (phages, plasmids, and transposons) and review the different types of vectors already available for the Bifidobacterium species, together with the transformation procedures for introducing DNA into bifidobacterial cells.
Further reading: