title: Identification and screening for antimicrobial activity against Clostridium difficile of Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus species isolated from healthy infant faeces.
abstract: The antimicrobial activity against Clostridium difficile of 109 lactic acid bacteria (LAB) isolated from 32 healthy Korean infants was measured. The ability to show similar activity against Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Staphylococcus aureus was also looked for. Twelve of the 109 LAB showed activity against C. difficile and 19 strains were active against E. coli O157:H7, but none against S. aureus. Four strains had antimicrobial activity against both C. difficile and E. coli O157:H7. Of the 12 strains that had activity against C. difficile, four strains were excluded as Streptococcus species, while the other eight were identified using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays using group-specific primers designed from the nucleotide sequences of the 16S rDNA and internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions of the Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus species. Based on the sequencing results, the eight strains screened were identified as Bifidobacterium infantis and Lactobacillus salivarius.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Engineering, Inha University, Yonghyun-dong 253, Nam-gu, Inchon 402-751, South Korea.
authors.forename: Yoon-Jong
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Won-Kyu
authors.initials: WK
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Tae-Ryeon
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Heo
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D001644:Bifidobacterium / Q000145:classification / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D003013:Clostridium / Q000254:growth & development; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000502:physiology; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007778:Lactobacillus / Q000145:classification / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S