Sarah Barber

Ms. Sarah Barber


Research Focus & Metrics

Academic Career Length

3Years (2024-Present)

(Calculated once Scilit publication data is synced: current year − year of first publication + 1)

Representative Publications

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16 September 2024 in Applied Microbiology
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
PDF file
LHLiam Karl Harold
Liam Karl Harold
NJNicola Christine Jones
Nicola Christine Jones
SBSarah Barber
Sarah Barber
AVAbigail Louise Voss
Abigail Louise Voss
RJRohit Jain
Rohit Jain
JHJohn Hale
John Hale
Synbiotics are mixtures of prebiotics and probiotics that enhance the activity of probiotic bacteria when co-administered to provide greater benefits to the host. Traditionally, the synbiotics that have been discovered enhance gut probiotic strains and are nutritionally complex molecules that survive digestive breakdown until they reach the later stages of the intestinal tract. Here, we screened and identified sugars or sugar substitutes as synbiotics for the oral probiotic strains Streptococcus salivarius BLIS K12 and BLIS M18. Using a modified deferred antagonism assay, we found that 0.5% (w/v) galactose and 2.5% (w/v) raffinose were the best candidates for use as synbiotics with BLIS K12 and M18, as they trigger enhanced antimicrobial activity against a range of bacteria representing species from the mouth, gut, and skin. Using reverse transcriptase quantitative PCR, we found that this enhanced antimicrobial activity was caused by the upregulation of the lantibiotic genes salA, salB, and sal9 in either K12 or M18. This led to the conclusion that either 2.5% (w/v) raffinose or 0.5% (w/v) galactose, respectively, are suitable synbiotics for use in conjunction with BLIS K12 and M18 to enhance probiotic performance.