Glycosyl hydrolases from Bifidobacterium adolescentis DSM20083 : Their role in the metabolism and synthesis of oligosaccharides.

Nowadays, there is an increasing interest for food, which is health beneficial for humans. Prebiotics e.g. is used to stimulate the growth of bacteria in the gut that have a positive effect on human health. It is claimed that bifidobacteria in the colon improve health and well being of humans. The first aim of this study was to identify and characterize enzymes from Bifidobacterium adolescentis, which can degrade non-digestible oligosaccharides. To make an inventory what kind of enzymes are present it can be predicted what kind of oligosaccharides can stimulate the growth of bifidobacteria. The second aim was to synthesize new oligosaccharides by the characterized enzymes to produce new sugars, which can be used as preferentially prebiotics for Bifidobacterium adolescentis. Different enzymes were cloned and characterized and most of the enzymes were able to produce new oligosaccharides.