Symbiotic relationship between human and bifidobacteria : Understanding and exploiting the functions of bifidobacterial glycosidases.

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Breast-fed infants normally have intestinal microbiota dominated by bifidobacteria, in contrast to formula-fed infants. This selective growth has been attributed to oligosaccharides contained in human milk (HMOs). We found that several bifidobacterial strains have a unique metabolic pathway for degrading HMOs. We isolated the specific enzymes involved in this pathway, determined their properties and x-ray structures, and revealed their structure-function relationship. Also, we succeeded in synthesizing 2'-fucosyllactose, a major component of HMOs, by exploiting 1, 2-α-L-fucosidase.