Compositions comprising bacterial strains

1. A pharmaceutical composition that comprises:

a bacteria strain that comprises a 16s rRNA gene sequence with at least 99.5% sequence identity to the polynucleotide of SEQ ID NO:2, wherein the sequence identity is determined by the Smith-Waterman homology search algorithm using an affine gap search with a gap open penalty of 12 and a gap extension penalty of 2, and a BLOSUM matrix of 62; and

a pharmaceutically acceptable excipient, diluent, or carrier;

wherein said bacteria strain has a carbohydrate fermentation profile that comprises:

(i) a positive fermentation of at least one of: L-arabinose and D-xylose; and

(ii) an intermediate fermentation of Methyl-αD-glycopyranoside;

and wherein said bacteria strain is lyophilized.

2. The pharmaceutical composition of claim 1 , wherein said carbohydrate profile further comprises a positive fermentation of at least one of: D-tagatose, D-ribose, potassium gluconate, D-galactose, D-glucose, D-fructose, D-mannose, N-acetylglucosamine, amygdalin, arbutin, salicin, D-cellobiose, D-maltose, sucrose, D-trehalose, and gentiobiose.

3. The pharmaceutical composition of claim 1 , wherein said carbohydrate profile further comprises an intermediate fermentation of at least one of: D-mannitol, D-lactose, and starch.

4. The pharmaceutical composition of claim 1 , wherein said carbohydrate profile further comprises:

i. a positive fermentation of at least one of: D-tagatose, D-ribose, potassium gluconate, D-galactose, D-glucose, D-fructose, D-mannose, N-acetylglucosamine, amygdalin, arbutin, salicin, D-cellobiose, D-maltose, sucrose, D-trehalose, and gentiobiose; and

ii. an intermediate fermentation of at least one of: D-mannitol, D-lactose, and starch.

5. The pharmaceutical composition of claim 4 , wherein said carbohydrate profile comprises a positive fermentation of L-arabinose, D-xylose, and gentiobiose.

6. The pharmaceutical composition of claim 4 , wherein said carbohydrate profile comprises a positive fermentation of L-arabinose and D-xylose and an intermediate fermentation of Methyl-αD-glycopyranoside.

7. The pharmaceutical composition of claim 1 , wherein said acceptable excipient, diluent, or carrier further comprises a lyoprotectant.

8. The pharmaceutical composition of claim 1 , wherein said pharmaceutical composition further comprises at least one additional bacteria strain.

9. The pharmaceutical composition of claim 1 , wherein at least 50% of said bacteria strain, as measured by an amount of colony forming units (CFU), remains viable after about 1 year of storage when the pharmaceutical composition is stored in a closed container at 25° C. at 95% relative humidity.

10. The pharmaceutical composition of claim 1 , wherein said bacteria strain is present in an amount that comprises from about 1×10 6 to about 1×10 11 CFU/g of said bacteria strain with respect to a total weight of the pharmaceutical composition.

11. The pharmaceutical composition of claim 1 , wherein said pharmaceutical composition further comprises a lipopolysaccharide.

12. The pharmaceutical composition of claim 1 , wherein said bacteria strain is effective to increase production of at least one cytokine selected from the group consisting of IL-6, TNF-α, and IL-1β.

13. The pharmaceutical composition of claim 1 , wherein said pharmaceutical composition is formulated for oral delivery.

14. The pharmaceutical composition of claim 13 , wherein said pharmaceutical composition comprises an enteric coating.

15. The pharmaceutical composition of claim 1 , wherein said pharmaceutical composition further comprises an adjuvant.

16. The pharmaceutical composition of claim 1 , wherein said bacteria strain comprises a 16s rRNA gene sequence with at least 99.9% sequence identity to the polynucleotide of SEQ ID NO:2, wherein the sequence identity is determined by the Smith-Waterman homology search algorithm using an affine gap search with a gap open penalty of 12 and a gap extension penalty of 2, and a BLOSUM matrix of 62.

17. The pharmaceutical composition of claim 1 , wherein said bacteria strain comprises the 16s rRNA gene sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2.

18. The pharmaceutical composition of claim 1 , wherein said bacteria strain is of the species Enterococcus gallinarum.