Genomic atlas of Bifidobacterium infantis and B. longum informs infant probiotic design
Summary
Bifidobacterium longum and B. infantis are pioneer colonizers of the neonatal gut and are widely used as probiotics to support infant growth, development, and disease resistance. However, commercial strains derived largely from high-income countries (HICs) may be suboptimal for infants in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). We assembled a global genomic atlas of more than 4,000 genomes from 48 countries, increasing representation from LMICs by 12- to 17-fold. High-resolution phylogen
Content
# Genomic atlas of Bifidobacterium infantis and B. longum informs infant probiotic design
*Published: 2026 Mar 19*
Bifidobacterium longum and B. infantis are pioneer colonizers of the neonatal
gut and are widely used as probiotics to support infant growth, development, and
disease resistance. However, commercial strains derived largely from high-income
countries (HICs) may be suboptimal for infants in low- and middle-income
countries (LMICs). We assembled a global genomic atlas of more than 4,000
genomes from 48 countries, increasing representation from LMICs by 12- to
17-fold. High-resolution phylogenomic and functional analyses support
delineating B. longum and B. infantis as distinct species with divergent
functions and epidemiological patterns. B. infantis dominates early-life
microbiota in LMICs but is rarely detected in HICs. Natural B. infantis strains
show extreme biogeographic stratification and predicted adaptations to local
plant-glycan-rich diets and breast-milk-derived substrates, including urea and B
vitamins. This genomic resource enables genome-guided selection of
geographically matched strains to inform more effective probiotics and precision
microbiome therapeutics for diverse infant populations.
DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2026.01.007