Bifidobacteria exhibit social behavior through carbohydrate resource sharing in the gut. Milani, C., Lugli, G. A., Duranti, S., Turroni, F., Mancabelli, L., Ferrario, C., Mangifesta, M., González, A., Viappiani, A., Scholz, M., Arioli, S., Sanchez, B., Lane, J., Ward, D. V, Hickey, R., Mora, D., Segata, N., Margolles, A., Van Sinderen, D., & Ventura, M. Scientific Reports, sep, 2015.
abstract   bibtex   
Bifidobacteria are common and frequently dominant members of the gut microbiota of many animals, including mammals and insects. Carbohydrates are considered key carbon sources for the gut microbiota, imposing strong selective pressure on the complex microbial consortium of the gut. Despite its importance, the genetic traits that facilitate carbohydrate utilization by gut microbiota members are still poorly characterized. Here, genome analyses of 47 representative Bifidobacterium (sub)species revealed the genes predicted to be required for the degradation and internalization of a wide range of carbohydrates, outnumbering those found in many other gut microbiota members. The glycan-degrading abilities of bifidobacteria are believed to reflect available carbon sources in the mammalian gut. Furthermore, transcriptome profiling of bifidobacterial genomes supported the involvement of various chromosomal loci in glycan metabolism. The widespread occurrence of bifidobacterial saccharolytic features is in line with metagenomic and metatranscriptomic datasets obtained from human adult/infant faecal samples, thereby supporting the notion that bifidobacteria expand the human glycobiome. This study also underscores the hypothesis of saccharidic resource sharing among bifidobacteria through species-specific metabolic specialization and cross feeding, thereby forging trophic relationships between members of the gut microbiota.
@article{Milani2015,
abstract = {Bifidobacteria are common and frequently dominant members of the gut microbiota of many animals, including mammals and insects. Carbohydrates are considered key carbon sources for the gut microbiota, imposing strong selective pressure on the complex microbial consortium of the gut. Despite its importance, the genetic traits that facilitate carbohydrate utilization by gut microbiota members are still poorly characterized. Here, genome analyses of 47 representative Bifidobacterium (sub)species revealed the genes predicted to be required for the degradation and internalization of a wide range of carbohydrates, outnumbering those found in many other gut microbiota members. The glycan-degrading abilities of bifidobacteria are believed to reflect available carbon sources in the mammalian gut. Furthermore, transcriptome profiling of bifidobacterial genomes supported the involvement of various chromosomal loci in glycan metabolism. The widespread occurrence of bifidobacterial saccharolytic features is in line with metagenomic and metatranscriptomic datasets obtained from human adult/infant faecal samples, thereby supporting the notion that bifidobacteria expand the human glycobiome. This study also underscores the hypothesis of saccharidic resource sharing among bifidobacteria through species-specific metabolic specialization and cross feeding, thereby forging trophic relationships between members of the gut microbiota.},
author = {Milani, Christian and Lugli, Gabriele Andrea and Duranti, Sabrina and Turroni, Francesca and Mancabelli, Leonardo and Ferrario, Chiara and Mangifesta, Marta and Gonz{\'{a}}lez, Arancha and Viappiani, Alice and Scholz, Matthias and Arioli, Stefania and Sanchez, Borja and Lane, Jonathan and Ward, Doyle V and Hickey, Rita and Mora, Diego and Segata, Nicola and Margolles, Abelardo and {Van Sinderen}, Douwe and Ventura, Marco},
file = {:home/nicola/.local/share/data/Mendeley Ltd./Mendeley Desktop/Downloaded/Milani et al. - 2015 - Bifidobacteria exhibit social behavior through carbohydrate resource sharing in the gut.pdf:pdf},
journal = {Scientific Reports},
month = {sep},
number = {15782},
title = {{Bifidobacteria exhibit social behavior through carbohydrate resource sharing in the gut}},
volume = {5},
year = {2015}
}

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