Carbohydrate catabolic flexibility in the mammalian intestinal commensal Lactobacillus ruminis revealed by fermentation studies aligned to genome annotations
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Date
2011-08
Authors
O'Donnell, Michelle M.
Forde, Brian M.
Neville, B. Anne
Ross, R. Paul
O'Toole, Paul W.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published Version
Abstract
Background: Lactobacillus ruminis is a poorly characterized member of the Lactobacillus salivarius clade that is part of
the intestinal microbiota of pigs, humans and other mammals. Its variable abundance in human and animals may be
linked to historical changes over time and geographical differences in dietary intake of complex carbohydrates.
Results: In this study, we investigated the ability of nine L. ruminis strains of human and bovine origin to utilize
fifty carbohydrates including simple sugars, oligosaccharides, and prebiotic polysaccharides. The growth patterns
were compared with metabolic pathways predicted by annotation of a high quality draft genome sequence of
ATCC 25644 (human isolate) and the complete genome of ATCC 27782 (bovine isolate). All of the strains tested
utilized prebiotics including fructooligosaccharides (FOS), soybean-oligosaccharides (SOS) and 1,3:1,4-b-D-glucooligosaccharides
to varying degrees. Six strains isolated from humans utilized FOS-enriched inulin, as well as
FOS. In contrast, three strains isolated from cows grew poorly in FOS-supplemented medium. In general,
carbohydrate utilisation patterns were strain-dependent and also varied depending on the degree of
polymerisation or complexity of structure. Six putative operons were identified in the genome of the human
isolate ATCC 25644 for the transport and utilisation of the prebiotics FOS, galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS), SOS,
and 1,3:1,4-b-D-Gluco-oligosaccharides. One of these comprised a novel FOS utilisation operon with predicted
capacity to degrade chicory-derived FOS. However, only three of these operons were identified in the ATCC
27782 genome that might account for the utilisation of only SOS and 1,3:1,4-b-D-Gluco-oligosaccharides.
Conclusions: This study has provided definitive genome-based evidence to support the fermentation patterns of nine
strains of Lactobacillus ruminis, and has linked it to gene distribution patterns in strains from different sources.
Furthermore, the study has identified prebiotic carbohydrates with the potential to promote L. ruminis growth in vivo.
Description
Keywords
Lactobacillus ruminis , Intestinal microbiota , Complex carbohydrates , Fermentation , Prebiotic carbohydrates , Lactic acid bacterium
Citation
O’ Donnell, M.M., B. M. Forde, B. A. Neville, R. P. Ross, and P. W. O’ Toole. (2011). Carbohydrate catabolic flexibility in the mammalian intestinal commensal Lactobacillus ruminis revealed by fermentation studies aligned to genome annotations. Microbial Cell Factories 10(Suppl. 1): S12.