@ARTICLE{Puttaswamy2026-qo,
  title     = "Comparative genomics analysis reveals the strain-specific
               probiotic potential and putative antimicrobial peptides of
               Bifidobacterium breve {NCIM} 5671",
  author    = "Puttaswamy, Kusuma N and Sundararaman, Aravind and Bansal,
               Kanika and Raphel, Steji and Patil, Prabhu and Halami, Prakash M",
  abstract  = "Bifidobacterium breve is a dominant member of the infant gut
               microbiota and is widely recognized for its probiotic
               attributes, including carbohydrate metabolism, stress tolerance,
               and pathogen inhibition. In this study, we sequenced the whole
               genome of B. breve NCIM 5671 to assess its metabolic potential,
               adaptive traits, safety, and antimicrobial activity. We
               assembled the genome into 69 contigs totaling 2.41 Mb, with a GC
               content of 58.5\%, and it encodes 2,189 genes. Functional
               annotation revealed a high abundance of genes involved in amino
               acid and carbohydrate metabolism. Pan-genome analysis of 50 B.
               breve genomes revealed an open pan-genome structure with 976
               core genes and significant accessory and strain-specific gene
               diversity. Phylogenetic and ANI analyses placed NCIM 5671 within
               a clade of infant-derived strains. Notably, we identified
               multiple antimicrobial peptide biosynthetic gene clusters,
               including lanthipeptide and lasso peptide systems, some of which
               were previously reported in B. breve but remain functionally
               uncharacterized. In vitro analysis confirmed the production of a
               low-molecular-weight peptide with broad-spectrum antimicrobial
               activity, specifically inhibiting RNA biosynthesis, consistent
               with the known mechanism of lasso peptides. Safety assessment
               revealed no functional antibiotic resistance or virulence genes.
               Overall, this study establishes an integrated genomic and
               functional framework for elucidating strain-specific probiotic
               traits in NCIM 5671. Importantly, this is the first study to
               functionally explore a putative lasso peptide-associated
               antimicrobial system in B. breve.",
  journal   = "Curr. Microbiol.",
  publisher = "Springer Science and Business Media LLC",
  volume    =  83,
  number    =  7,
  month     =  may,
  year      =  2026,
  copyright = "https://www.springernature.com/gp/researchers/text-and-data-mining",
  language  = "en"
}