Title

Comprehensive genomic assessment of available probiotics in India: A framework for safety and functionality evaluation

Authors

Swati Shrivastava¹, Nidhi Sharma², Abhishek Sharma¹ & Shubhi Gupta^1,*

Affiliation

¹Department of Biochemistry, Government Medical College, Datia, Madhya Pradesh, India; ²Department of Microbiology, Government Medical College, Datia, Madhya Pradesh, India; *Corresponding author

Email

Swati Shrivastava - E - mail: swatishrivastava574@gmail.com

Abhishek Sharma - E - mail: drabhisheksharma1982@gmail.com
Nidhi Sharma - E - mail: drnidz@gmail.com
Shubhi Gupta - E - mail: gshubhi73@gmail.com

Article Type

Research Article

Date

Received May 31, 2025; Revised May 31, 2025; Accepted May 31, 2025, Published May 31, 2025

Abstract

Probiotic strains, defined as live microorganisms that confer health benefits to the host when administered in adequate amounts, are widely incorporated into commercial products. Therefore, assessing the safety and functional attributes of 20 commercially available probiotic strains using complete genome sequencing is of immediate importance. Our analysis revealed that 15% of the products were mislabeled, containing species different from those declared on the label. Further, 12% of the tested strains harbored transferable antimicrobial resistance genes. However, 8% Bacillus species contained virulence-associated genes. Nonetheless probiotic-related genes linked to acid and bile tolerance were consistently found in Lactobacillus strains. These findings underscore the urgent need for standardized genomic safety assessments prior to the market approval of probiotic products.

Keywords

Probiotics; whole genome sequencing; safety assessment; antimicrobial resistance; genomic analysis; functional properties

Citation

Shrivastava et al. Bioinformation 21(5): 1163-1168 (2025)

Edited by

Vini Mehta

ISSN

0973-2063

Publisher

Biomedical Informatics

License

This is an Open Access article which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. This is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.