Adhesion of Bifidobacterium spp. to human intestinal mucus

Twenty-four Bifidobacterium strains were examined for their ability to bind to immobilized human and bovine intestinal mucus glycoproteins, Each of th e tested bacteria exhibited its characteristic adhesion to human and bovine fecal mucus. No significant differences were found among the taxonomic spe cies, Among the tested bacteria, B, adolescentis, B, angulatum, B, bifidum, B, breve, B. catenulatum, B, infantis, B, longum and B, pseudocatenulatum adhered to human fecal mucus better than bovine fecal mucus, while the bind ing of B, animalis and B, lactis was not preferential. These results sugges t that the mucosal adhesive properties of bifidobacteria may be a strain de pendent feature, and the mucosal binding of the human bifidobacteria may be more host specific.