Genome analysis of Bifidobacterium bifidum PRL2010 reveals metabolic pathways for host-derived glycan foraging

Turroni, Francesca; Bottacini, F.; Foroni, E.; Mulder, I.; Kim, J. H.; Zomer, A.; Sánchez, B.; Bidossi, A.; Ferrarini, A.; Giubellini, V.; Delledonne, M.; Henrissat, B.; Coutinho, P.; Oggioni, M.; Fitzgerald, G. F.; Mills, D.; Margolles, A.; Kelly, D.; Van Sinderen, D.; Ventura, Marco

doi:10.1073/pnas.1011100107

The human intestine is densely populated by a microbial consortium whose metabolic activities are influenced by, among others, bifidobacteria. However, the genetic basis of adaptation of bifidobacteria to the human gut is poorly understood. Analysis of the 2,214,650-bp genome of Bifidobacterium bifidum PRL2010, a strain isolated from infant stool, revealed a nutrient-acquisition strategy that targets host-derived glycans, such as those present in mucin. Proteome and transcriptome profiling revealed a set of chromosomal loci responsible for mucin metabolism that appear to be under common transcriptional control and with predicted functions that allow degradation of various O-linked glycans in mucin. Conservation of the latter gene clusters in various B. bifidum strains supports the notion that host-derived glycan catabolism is an important colonization factor for B. bifidum with concomitant impact on intestinal microbiota ecology.

Genome analysis of Bifidobacterium bifidum PRL2010 reveals metabolic pathways for host-derived glycan foraging / Turroni, F., Bottacini, F., Foroni, E., Mulder, I., Kim, J.H., Zomer, A., Sánchez, B., Bidossi, A., Ferrarini, A., Giubellini, V., Delledonne, M., Henrissat, B., Coutinho, P., Oggioni, M., Fitzgerald, G.F., Mills, D., Margolles, A., Kelly, D., van Sinderen, D., Ventura, M.. - In: PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. - ISSN 0027-8424. - 107:(2010), pp. 19514-19519. [10.1073/pnas.1011100107]