Environmental Determination of Indigenous Bifidobacteria of the Human Intestine

The environmental determination of indigenous (constantly present) bifidobacteria of the human large intestine is considered in this review. Environmental determination (from the Latin determinere, “I determine”) is understood as a set of natural phenomena of a habitat (biotope) that determine the role of indigenous microorganisms in the microbiocenosis. Using the symbiotic approach, an attempt is made to identify the environmental conditions for the habitat of bifidobacteria and their physiological effects in the microsymbiocenosis. The features of indigenous bifidobacteria in terms of their nature have been established: evolutionary−genetic (phylogenetic remoteness, genome conservation, metabolic specialization), biochemical (lysozyme resistance, constitutive acetate production), and physiological (microbial “friend−foe” identification, immunoregulation), which are important in adaptation (persistence) and the provision of mutualistic effects and stability of the bifidoflora in the population.