ILS-Bhubaneswar Scientists Isolate New Health-Promoting Probiotic

Bhubaneswar: Biotechnologists at Institute of Life Sciences (ILS) here have isolated a new probiotic bacteria with potential health benefits.

The ‘Ligilactobacillus salivarius F14’ found in the fecal samples, collected from healthy men and women adults of tribes of Sundargarh, demonstrated potential antimicrobial and immunomodulatory ability to influence immune response in host cells.

Recently, the group published the whole genome sequence and other probiotic properties of one of the helpful bacteria in the ‘World journal of microbiology and biotechnology’, a reputed international journal in this field. Jayalaxmi Dash and Manisha Sethi, the lead authors of this publication, mentioned that the whole genome sequencing has already been completed for three more probiotics and the sequences have been submitted to the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) database in the USA.

“Probiotics play an important role in overall metabolism. One of the crucial features of the pathogen isolated recently is its ability to adapt to the harsh environmental conditions prevailing inside the gastrointestinal (GI). The initial acid and bile challenge studies suggested the suitability of this probiotic for survival in the GI tract,” senior scientist Dr Shantibhusan Senapaiti told TNIE.

He further said that chances of finding novel probiotic bacteria in the gut of a healthy tribal population are high since they live close to nature. “The probiotic will supplement community or individual-based probiotic treatment and restore normal flora if supplemented in the diet and administered to individuals with gut microbiota imbalance,” he added.

Director of ILS and the principal investigator of the ILS-flagship project Pulok Kumar Mukherjee said the institute will develop functional foods by using these probiotics in future.

“Probiotics are good microbes that provide health benefits to humans and animals when taken live in adequate amounts. These helpful organisms are known to be useful in the prevention and control of multiple health associated problems like diarrhoea, obesity and many immunological disorders,” said an ILS statement.

The ILS conducted the research under supervision of its former director late Ajay Parida with support of the Department of Biotechnology of the Centre three years ago.