ABSTRACT
Research on lactic acid bacteria (LAB), during recent years has been dominated by
advances in molecular biology and the application of the latest genetic and molecular
biological tools in both the fundamental and applied areas. These advances have
increased our understanding of their taxonomy, metabolism, and interactions with
other microbes and, in probiotic applications, ultimately with the host. Especially in
the field of probiotics, findings that were only anticipated a few years ago have materi-
alized and more breakthroughs in other areas are to come. The following projections are
based on our impressions from the literature, experience, and comparison of the results
and claims presented recently.
