Effect of the adaptation to high bile salts concentrations on glycosidic activity, survival at low PH and cross-resistance to bile salts in Bifidobacterium

Six derivatives with increased resistance to ox gall (MIC: ≥1% w/v) and one derivative resistant to sodium cholate (MIC: 0.8% w/v) were obtained from more sensitive original Bifidobacterium strains. These microorganisms, and two additional cholate resistant derivatives obtained in a previous study (Int. J. Food Microbiol. 82 (2003) 191), were partially characterised in this study. Acquisition of resistance against a given bile salt, also conferred cross-resistance to other bile salts, and promoted an increase in the survival of these microorganisms at low pH. Bile resistance levels of derivatives were dependent on the external pH so that the resistance was lower at neutral pH values than in acidic environments. In addition, the acquisition of bile resistance induced changes on glycoside-hydrolysing activities of derivatives obtained from five out of eight original strains, with certain activities such as β-glucosidase showing more than tenfold increases in some of these microorganisms. These data suggest that the exposure to high bile salts concentrations may have induced a synergic response on Bifidobacterium for the adaptation to the conditions of the gastrointestinal tract. This could have improved the survival at low pH in these microorganisms, the resistance to high bile salts concentrations, and the assimilation of non-digestible carbohydrates by the enhancement of some glycoside-hydrolysing activities.