Dietary fiber selectively regulates intestinal persistence of probiotic Bifidobacteria

However, Bifidobacteria persists at high abundance in only a subset of individuals after weaning, and the factors that regulate intestinal persistence of Bifidobacteria are poorly understood. Here, we identified that a common dietary fiber, raffinose, supports Bifidobacteria persistence within complex microbiome communities.

Raffinose-driven Bifidobacteria persistence is associated with disease resistance and restrained inflammation in mice. Altogether, our findings show that raffinose selectively regulates the intestinal persistence of Bifidobacteria, which may enable its sustained maintenance during microbiome diversification and thereby support prolonged probiotic functions.