Butyrate producing colonic Clostridiales metabolise human milk oligosaccharides and cross feed on mucin via conserved pathways

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 11; no. 1; pp. 3285 - 15
• Main Authors: Pichler, Michael Jakob, Yamada, Chihaya, Shuoker, Bashar, Alvarez-Silva, Camila, Gotoh, Aina, Leth, Maria Louise, Schoof, Erwin, Katoh, Toshihiko, Sakanaka, Mikiyasu, Katayama, Takane, Jin, Chunsheng, Karlsson, Niclas G, Arumugam, Manimozhiyan, Fushinobu, Shinya, Abou Hachem, Maher
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Nature Publishing Group 03.07.2020; Nature Publishing Group UK; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: Akkermansia; Assembly; bacterial diversity; bifidobacterium; Bifidobacterium - metabolism; blood-group-a; Breast milk; Butyrates - metabolism; Catabolism; Clinical Medicine; Clostridiales; Clostridiales - genetics; Clostridiales - metabolism; Colon - microbiology; Colonization; Colorectal carcinoma; Competitiveness; dynamics; Eubacteriales; Eubacterium - metabolism; Gastrointestinal Microbiome - physiology; gen. nov; Genomes; Glycan; health; human gut microbiome; Humans; Infant; Infant, Newborn; Intestinal microflora; Klinisk medicin; Loci; Maturation; Metabolic disorders; Metabolism - physiology; Microbiomes; Microbiota; Milk; Milk, Human - chemistry; Milk, Human - metabolism; Mucin; Mucins - metabolism; Oligosaccharides; Oligosaccharides - metabolism; Polysaccharides; Polysaccharides - metabolism; protein-sequence; purification; Roseburia intestinalis; Science & Technology - Other Topics; Structure-function relationships; Syntrophism; Verrucomicrobia - metabolism; Weaning
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-17075-x

The early life human gut microbiota exerts life-long health effects on the host, but the mechanisms underpinning its assembly remain elusive. Particularly, the early colonization of Clostridiales from the Roseburia-Eubacterium group, associated with protection from colorectal cancer, immune- and metabolic disorders is enigmatic. Here, we describe catabolic pathways that support the growth of Roseburia and Eubacterium members on distinct human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs). The HMO pathways, which include enzymes with a previously unknown structural fold and specificity, were upregulated together with additional glycan-utilization loci during growth on selected HMOs and in co-cultures with Akkermansia muciniphila on mucin, suggesting an additional role in enabling cross-feeding and access to mucin O-glycans. Analyses of 4599 Roseburia genomes underscored the preponderance and diversity of the HMO utilization loci within the genus. The catabolism of HMOs by butyrate-producing Clostridiales may contribute to the competitiveness of this group during the weaning-triggered maturation of the microbiota.