Glycan Foraging in Vivo by an Intestine-Adapted Bacterial Symbiont

Justin L. Sonnenburg; Jian Xu; Douglas Leip; Chien-Huan Chen; Benjamin P. Westover; Jeremy W. Weatherford; Jeremy Buhler; Jeffrey I. Gordon

doi:10.1126/science.1109051

Abstract

Germ-free mice were maintained on polysaccharide-rich or simple-sugar diets and colonized for 10 days with an organism also found in human guts, Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron , followed by whole-genome transcriptional profiling of bacteria and mass spectrometry of cecal glycans. We found that these bacteria assembled on food particles and mucus, selectively induced outer-membrane polysaccharide-binding proteins and glycoside hydrolases, prioritized the consumption of liberated hexose sugars, and revealed a capacity to turn to host mucus glycans when polysaccharides were absent from the diet. This flexible foraging behavior should contribute to ecosystem stability and functional diversity.

Keywords

Bacteroides thetaiotaomicronGlycanPolysaccharideBiologyBacteriaMucusMicrobiomeMicrobiologyBiochemistryLactoferrinBacteroidesBacterial outer membraneSialic acidGlycoproteinGeneEscherichia coliEcologyGenetics

Affiliated Institutions

Washington University in St. Louis US

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Publication Info

Year: 2005
Type: article
Volume: 307
Issue: 5717
Pages: 1955-1959
Citations: 1153
Access: Closed

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APA Style

                            
                                
                                    Justin L. Sonnenburg, 
                                
                                    Jian Xu, 
                                
                                    Douglas Leip
                                
                                et al.
                            
                            (2005). 
                            Glycan Foraging in Vivo by an Intestine-Adapted Bacterial Symbiont. 
                            Science
                            , 307
                            (5717)
                            , 1955-1959.
                            https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1109051
                        

Identifiers

DOI: 10.1126/science.1109051