Specificity of Polysaccharide Use in Intestinal Bacteroides Species Determines Diet-Induced Microbiota Alterations

The intestinal microbiota impacts many facets of human health and is associated with human diseases. Diet impacts microbiota composition, yet mechanisms that link dietary changes to microbiota alterations remain ill-defined. Here we elucidate the basis of Bacteroides proliferation in response to fru...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Cell 2010-06, Vol.141 (7), p.1241-1252
Main Authors: Sonnenburg, Erica D., Zheng, Hongjun, Joglekar, Payal, Higginbottom, Steven K., Firbank, Susan J., Bolam, David N., Sonnenburg, Justin L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Bacteroides - genetics
Bacteroides - isolation & purification
Bacteroides - metabolism
Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron
CELLBIO
Competitiveness
Diet
Fructans - metabolism
Germ-Free Life
Intestines - microbiology
Inulin - metabolism
Metagenome
Mice
MICROBIO
Models, Molecular
Polysaccharides - metabolism
Transcription, Genetic
Up-Regulation
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Summary:The intestinal microbiota impacts many facets of human health and is associated with human diseases. Diet impacts microbiota composition, yet mechanisms that link dietary changes to microbiota alterations remain ill-defined. Here we elucidate the basis of Bacteroides proliferation in response to fructans, a class of fructose-based dietary polysaccharides. Structural and genetic analysis disclosed a fructose-binding, hybrid two-component signaling sensor that controls the fructan utilization locus in Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron. Gene content of this locus differs among Bacteroides species and dictates the specificity and breadth of utilizable fructans. BT1760, an extracellular β2-6 endo-fructanase, distinguishes B. thetaiotaomicron genetically and functionally, and enables the use of the β2-6-linked fructan levan. The genetic and functional differences between Bacteroides species are predictive of in vivo competitiveness in the presence of dietary fructans. Gene sequences that distinguish species' metabolic capacity serve as potential biomarkers in microbiomic datasets to enable rational manipulation of the microbiota via diet. [Display omitted] ► B. theta's fructan utilization locus encodes proteins with β2-6-linkage specificity ► B. theta's hybrid-two component sensor binds fructose which induces locus expression ► Genome sequence predicts fructan specificity (β2-1 versus β2-6) in Bacteroides species ► Bacteroides species fructan specificity dictates success in β2-1 fructan fed mice
ISSN:0092-8674
1097-4172
DOI:10.1016/j.cell.2010.05.005