Bifidobacterium adolescentis
What's this?
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Its ID gene: the stretch scientists read to tell microbes apart. Each bar is one letter of its DNA. Every species has its own order of letters, so the pattern works like a fingerprint. Close relatives share most of it.
16S rRNA gene, V4 region: the 253 letters between the standard primers (515F/806R), which are the same in every species. One reference sequence; strains can differ by a letter or two. NCBI NR_074802.2
Formerly Bifidobacterium faecale.
Small for a gut microbe: longer than 15% of the 2,354 we have genomes for.
59% G+C, higher than 73% of gut microbes.
To scale: if its ID gene were 1 cm long, its genome would stretch 14 meters. Yours would stretch 21 kilometers. One reference genome; strains vary. NCBI GCF_000010425.1
What it can do
- Can make lactic acid What yogurt bacteria make; other microbes turn it into butyrate.
- Can ferment fiber Breaks down dietary fiber that our own enzymes can't.
- Can eat inulin A fiber in onions, garlic, leeks, chicory and bananas (also sold as FOS).
- Can eat resistant starch Starch that reaches the colon: cooled potatoes and rice, green bananas, beans.
- Can use lactose The sugar in milk and dairy.
- Can change bile acids Modifies the bile acids the liver makes to digest fat.
Not seen in its genomes: make butyrate, make propionate, eat pectin, feed on gut mucus, make hydrogen sulfide, make methane.
All 13 capabilities and their evidence
| Capability | Verdict | Genome analysis | Lab tests | Published research |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Can make butyrate | Not seen | 0 of 15 genomes | — | No papers |
| Can make propionate | Not seen | 0 of 15 genomes | — | No papers |
| Can make lactic acid | Can | 15 of 15 genomes | — | Papers say yes |
| Can ferment fiber | Can | 15 of 15 genomes | 10 of 10 strains · strip test | Papers say yes |
| Can eat inulin | Can | 13 of 15 genomes | 1 of 5 strains · strip test Strip tests often miss fiber-eaters, so this doesn't override the genomes. | Papers say yes |
| Can eat resistant starch | Can | 13 of 15 genomes | — | No papers |
| Can eat pectin | Not seen | 0 of 15 genomes | — | No papers |
| Can use lactose | Can | 15 of 15 genomes | 9 of 10 strains | No papers |
| Can feed on gut mucus | Not seen | 0 of 15 genomes | — | No papers |
| Can change bile acids | Can | 1 of 15 genomes | — | Papers say yes |
| Can make B vitamins | Can | 15 of 15 genomes | — | Papers say yes |
| Can make hydrogen sulfide | Not seen | 0 of 15 genomes | — | No papers |
| Can make methane | Not seen | 0 of 15 genomes | — | No papers |
AGORA2 (Heinken et al. 2023) via VMH, CC BY 4.0 · BacDive (DSMZ), CC BY 4.0 · NJC19 (Lim et al., Scientific Data 2020), CC0
In healthy guts
Found in 53% of healthy people.
- largest Segatella copri 6.2%
- 2nd largest Phocaeicola vulgatus 5.0%
- 3rd largest Faecalibacterium prausnitzii 4.7%
- 4th largest Bacteroides uniformis 3.2%
- 5th largest Agathobacter rectalis 2.5%
- 6th largest Alistipes putredinis 2.3%
- 7th largest Bifidobacterium longum 2.1%
- 8th largest Ruminococcus bromii 1.8%
- top 20 Bifidobacterium adolescentis 1.6%
- 2,169 other microbes, each a sliver 55.0%
- 15.6%
On average, 1.6% of the microbes in a healthy gut: among the 20 largest slices.
Every group, drawn the same way. Only some samples record age or sex, so each group says how many people it comes from. Tap one to see it above.
In conditions
Compared with healthy people in the same studies, it’s less common in 10 conditions and more common in none. Only studies that had both are counted.
A difference is an association: it doesn’t mean this microbe causes, prevents or treats any of these.
Strongest first, then the biggest gap · Each figure is 10 peopleIn studies of how people live
Higher in vegans than omnivores
Fackelmann 2025 · 21,561 people Landmark study
Higher in 5 of 5 cohorts
“Higher” is the study’s measure: on average, a bigger share of gut bacteria across everyone in the group, carriers or not. It isn’t how many people carry it. An association the authors report, measured once per person. It doesn’t mean a diet changes this microbe, or that the microbe affects health.
Recent research
Source: PubMed, U.S. National Library of Medicine · 400 linked papers, last 10 years
Strains studied
How much each strain has been studied in people, not whether it works. Many trials test a strain inside a blend, so those are counted apart, and reviews are summaries of trials, so they're never counted as more trials.
B. adolescentis Bac30
In 1 product →No human trials found yet
Human trials, meta-analyses and systematic reviews naming the strain · animal and lab studies not counted · Data sources