Probiotic Strains

By Dr Ananya Mandal, MD

Live probiotic bacteria can be found in yoghurts and other foods fortified with probiotics. These “friendly” bacteria are also available in the freeze-dried form as tablets, sachets and powders, for example.

To understand how a probiotic strain is named, Lactobacillus casei DN-114 001 and Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG can be used as examples. Here, Lactobacillus refers to the genus; casei or rhamnosus to the species, while GG and DN-114 001 are unique strain designations.

Other examples of probiotic strains are give below:

Bifidobacterium

• Bifidobacterium animalis DN 173 010
• Bifidobacterium infantis 35624
• Bifidobacterium lactis HN019 (DR10)
• Bifidobacterium longum BB536  

Lactobacillus

• Lactobacillus acidophilus LA-5 
• Lactobacillus acidophilus NCFM 
• Lactobacillus casei DN-114 001
• Lactobacillus casei CRL431 
• Lactobacillus casei F19
• Lactobacillus johnsonii La1 (Lj1)
• Lactobacillus plantarum 299V
• Lactobacillus reuteri ATTC 55730
• Lactobacillus rhamnosus ATCC 53013 (LGG)
• Lactobacillus rhamnosus LB21
• Lactobacillus salivarius UCC118   
• Lactobacillus acidophilus LAFTI® L10

Combinations

Some examples of combination probiotics include:

• Lactobacillus rhamnosus GR-1 & Lactobacillus reuteri RC-14
• Lactobacillus acidophilus CL1285 & Lactobacillus casei Lbc80r
• Lactobacillus acidophilus CUL60 & Bifidobacterium bifidum CUL 20
• Lactobacillus helveticus R0052 & Lactobacillus rhamnosus R0011

Reviewed by Sally Robertson, BSc

Further Reading

• What are Probiotics?
• Probiotic Research
• Probiotic Benefits
• Probiotic Side Effects
• Probiotics History
• Friendly bacteria: do we really need to eat probiotic yogurts?
• Prebiotics and Probiotics: What’s the Difference?