The genomic basis of the Streptococcus thermophilus health-promoting properties
Émeline Roux, Aurélie Nicolas, Florence Valence, Grégoire Siekaniec, Victoria Chuat, Jacques Nicolas +2 more
BMC Genomics
Abstract
The natural intra-species diversity of S. thermophilus, therefore, represents an interesting source for innovation in the field of fermented products enriched for healthy components that can be exploited to improve human health. A better knowledge of the health-promoting properties and their genomic and genetic diversity within the species may facilitate the selection and application of strains for specific biotechnological and human health-promoting purpose. Moreover, by pointing out that a substantial part of its functional potential still defies us, our work opens the way to uncover additional health-related functions through the intra-species diversity exploration of S. thermophilus by comparative genomics approaches.