Antagonistic activities of some Bifidobacterium sp. strains isolated from resident infant gastrointestinal microbiota on Gram-negative enteric pathogens

Among the twelve Bifidobacterium sp. strains, the largest spectrum of antimicrobial activity against 9 of the 18 enteropathogenic strains was revealed for a B. breve strain recently isolated from infant intestinal feces. The whole culture and free-cell supernatant of B. breve culture decreased the multiplication rate, shortened the log phase and the total duration of the growth curve, with an earlier entrance in the decline phase and inhibited the adherence capacity to a cellular substratum and the swimming/swarming motility too. These results indicate the significant probiotic potential of the B. breve strain.