title: Safety assessment of Bifidobacterium longum JDM301 based on complete genome sequences.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the safety of Bifidobacterium longum (B. longum) JDM301 based on complete genome sequences.
  
  
  METHODS
  The complete genome sequences of JDM301 were determined using the GS 20 system. Putative virulence factors, putative antibiotic resistance genes and genes encoding enzymes responsible for harmful metabolites were identified by blast with virulence factors database, antibiotic resistance genes database and genes associated with harmful metabolites in previous reports. Minimum inhibitory concentration of 16 common antimicrobial agents was evaluated by E-test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  JDM301 was shown to contain 36 genes associated with antibiotic resistance, 5 enzymes related to harmful metabolites and 162 nonspecific virulence factors mainly associated with transcriptional regulation, adhesion, sugar and amino acid transport. B. longum JDM301 was intrinsically resistant to ciprofloxacin, amikacin, gentamicin and streptomycin and susceptible to vancomycin, amoxicillin, cephalothin, chloramphenicol, erythromycin, ampicillin, cefotaxime, rifampicin, imipenem and trimethoprim-sulphamethoxazol. JDM301 was moderately resistant to bacitracin, while an earlier study showed that bifidobacteria were susceptible to this antibiotic. A tetracycline resistance gene with the risk of transfer was found in JDM301, which needs to be experimentally validated.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The safety assessment of JDM301 using information derived from complete bacterial genome will contribute to a wider and deeper insight into the safety of probiotic bacteria.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, Institutes of Medical Sciences, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200025, China.
authors.forename: Yan-Xia
authors.initials: YX
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.forename: Zhuo-Yang
authors.initials: ZY
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Chang
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Pradeep K
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Malakar
authors.forename: Xiao-Kui
authors.initials: XK
authors.lastname: Guo
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D001644:Bifidobacterium / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial / Q000235:genetics; D059022:Food Safety; D016680:Genome, Bacterial; D006801:Humans; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D019936:Probiotics
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents