The discovery of the genes responsible for small appendages in Bifidobacterium may help to explain how the probiotic bacteria colonise the intestine.
The research finding, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), comes after the team of scientists sequenced the DNA of Bifidobacterium breve UCC2003, showing for the first time that Bifidobacteria have genes which produce finger-like appendages known as TAD pili - which allow them to adhere to the gut lining and form colonies. Full Article
(http://www.nutraingredients.com/Research/Researchers-discover-probiotic-colonisation-mechanism)