Functional genome analysis of Bifidobacterium breve UCC2003 reveals type IVb tight adherence (Tad) pili as an essential and conserved host-colonization factor.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: O'Connell Motherway M
PROVIDER: S-EPMC3131351 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Jul
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Functional genome analysis of Bifidobacterium breve UCC2003 reveals type IVb tight adherence (Tad) pili as an essential and conserved host-colonization factor.
O'Connell Motherway Mary M Zomer Aldert A Leahy Sinead C SC Reunanen Justus J Bottacini Francesca F Claesson Marcus J MJ O'Brien Frances F Flynn Kiera K Casey Patrick G PG Munoz Jose Antonio Moreno JA Kearney Breda B Houston Aileen M AM O'Mahony Caitlin C Higgins Des G DG Shanahan Fergus F Palva Airi A de Vos Willem M WM Fitzgerald Gerald F GF Ventura Marco M O'Toole Paul W PW van Sinderen Douwe D
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 20110620 27
Development of the human gut microbiota commences at birth, with bifidobacteria being among the first colonizers of the sterile newborn gastrointestinal tract. To date, the genetic basis of Bifidobacterium colonization and persistence remains poorly understood. Transcriptome analysis of the Bifidobacterium breve UCC2003 2.42-Mb genome in a murine colonization model revealed differential expression of a type IVb tight adherence (Tad) pilus-encoding gene cluster designated "tad(2003)." Mutational ...[more]
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Project description:Cellodextrins, the incomplete hydrolysis products from insoluble cellulose, are accessible as a carbon source to certain members of the human gut microbiota, such as Bifidobacterium breve UCC2003. Transcription of the cldEFGC gene cluster of B. breve UCC2003 was shown to be induced upon growth on cellodextrins, implicating this cluster in the metabolism of these sugars. Phenotypic analysis of a B. breve UCC2003::cldE insertion mutant confirmed that the cld gene cluster is exclusively required for cellodextrin utilization by this commensal. Moreover, our results suggest that transcription of the cld cluster is controlled by a LacI-type regulator encoded by cldR, located immediately upstream of cldE. Gel mobility shift assays using purified CldR(His) (produced by the incorporation of a His(12)-encoding sequence into the 3' end of the cldC gene) indicate that the cldEFGC promoter is subject to negative control by CldR(His), which binds to two inverted repeats. Analysis by high-performance anion-exchange chromatography with pulsed amperometric detection (HPAEC-PAD) of medium samples obtained during growth of B. breve UCC2003 on a mixture of cellodextrins revealed its ability to utilize cellobiose, cellotriose, cellotetraose, and cellopentaose, with cellotriose apparently representing the preferred substrate. The cldC gene of the cld operon of B. breve UCC2003 is, to the best of our knowledge, the first described bifidobacterial ?-glucosidase exhibiting hydrolytic activity toward various cellodextrins.
| S-EPMC3067287 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Development of the human gut microbiota commences at birth with bifidobacteria being among the first colonizers of the sterile newborn gastrointestinal tract. To date the genetic basis of bifidobacterial colonization and persistence remains poorly understood. Transcriptomic analysis of the 2,422,684 bp genome of Bifidobacterium breve UCC2003, a strain isolated from a nursling stool, during colonization of a mouse model revealed the differential expression of a type IVb or so-called Tad pilus-encoding cluster. Mutational analysis coupled with colonization experiments demonstrated that the UCC2003 tad gene cluster is essential for colonization. Immunogold transmission electron microscopy confirmed the presence of the Tad pili at the cell poles of B. breve UCC2003. Conservation of the Tad pilus-encoding locus among sequenced bifidobacterial genomes supports the notion of a ubiquitous and novel host colonization and persistence mechanism for bifidobacteria.
2011-07-01 | GSE27491 | GEO
Project description:Development of the human gut microbiota commences at birth with bifidobacteria being among the first colonizers of the sterile newborn gastrointestinal tract. To date the genetic basis of bifidobacterial colonization and persistence remains poorly understood. Transcriptomic analysis of the 2,422,684 bp genome of Bifidobacterium breve UCC2003, a strain isolated from a nursling stool, during colonization of a mouse model revealed the differential expression of a type IVb or so-called Tad pilus-encoding cluster. Mutational analysis coupled with colonization experiments demonstrated that the UCC2003 tad gene cluster is essential for colonization. Immunogold transmission electron microscopy confirmed the presence of the Tad pili at the cell poles of B. breve UCC2003. Conservation of the Tad pilus-encoding locus among sequenced bifidobacterial genomes supports the notion of a ubiquitous and novel host colonization and persistence mechanism for bifidobacteria. Colonisation of BalbC mice: Seven-week-old male, BalbC mice were housed in individually vented cages (Animal care systems, Colorado) under a strict 12 h light cycle. Mice (n = 5 per group) were fed a standard polysaccharide-rich mouse chow diet and water ad libidum. Mice were inoculated by oral gavage (109 cfu of B. breve UCC2003 pPKCM7 or B. breve UCC 2003-tadA pPKCM7 in 100 ul of PBS). Fecal pellets were collected at intervals over 25 days to enumerate bacteria. Twenty five days after inoculation, mice were sacrificed and their intestinal tracts quickly dissected. Aliquots of small intestine, caecum and large intestine were harvested for determination of colony forming units (cfu) (serial dilution plating on RCA agar plates with appropriate antibiotics). Caeca were placed in RNA later for immediate RNA isolation (see below). Microarray procedures: DNA microarrays containing oligonucleotide primers representing each of the 1926 annotated genes of B. breve UCC2003 were obtained from Agilent Technologies (Palo Alto, CA). An overnight culture of B. breve was used to inoculate (1 % inoculum) 50 ml of MRS broth. Cells were incubated at 37°C until an optical density at 600 nm (OD600) of 0.5 was reached. Cells were then harvested by centrifugation at 8,000 x g for 1 min at room temperature and immediately frozen at -80oC. Methods for cell disruption, RNA isolation, RNA quality control were performed as described previously (van Hijum et al., 2005). Caeca, isolated from mice, were placed in RNAlater (Ambion) and immediately processed. Bacterial mRNA was extracted from caecal RNA preparations using the MicrobEnrich and MicrobExpress kits (Ambion) according to the manufacturer’s instructions. cDNA from bacterial mRNA was synthesized using the cDNA synthesis and labelling kit DSK-001 (Kreatech) according to the manufacturer’s instructions. 1 μl of each cDNA solution (10 ng) was amplified in triplicate using the GenomiPhi™ V2 DNA Amplification Kit (Amersham Biosciences) according to the manufacturer's protocol and labelled with Cy3 or Cy5 using Cy3-ULS and Cy5-ULS from the cDNA synthesis and labelling kit DSK-001 (Kreatech). Labelled and amplified cDNA was hybridized using the Agilent Gene Expression hybridization kit (part number 5188-5242) as described in the Agilent Two-Color Microarray-Based Gene Expression Analysis (v4.0) manual (publication number G4140-90050). Following hybridization, microarrays were washed as described in the manuals and scanned using Agilent's DNA microarray scanner G2565A. The scanning results were converted to data files with Agilent's Feature Extraction software (version 9.5). DNA microarray data was processed as previously described (Zomer et al. 2009). Differential expression tests were performed using a t test. A gene was considered differentially expressed between a test strain and control when an expression ratio of >5 or <0.2 relative to the result for the control was obtained with a corresponding P value that was <0.0001. DNA microarrays containing oligonucleotide primers representing each of the 1926 annotated genes of B. breve UCC2003 were obtained from Agilent Technologies (Palo Alto, CA). An overnight culture of B. breve was used to inoculate (1 % inoculum) 50 ml of MRS broth. Cells were incubated at 37°C until an optical density at 600 nm (OD600) of 0.5 was reached. Cells were then harvested by centrifugation at 8,000 x g for 1 min at room temperature and immediately frozen at -80oC. Methods for cell disruption, DNA isolation were performed as described previously (O'Riordan et al. 1998). Genomic DNA (gDNA) labeling for comparative genome hybridizations (CGH) was undertaken according to the BµG@S standard protocols (Hinds et al. 2002). In brief 5 µg of bifidobacterial genomic DNA was labeled with dCTP Cy3 (UCC2003) or dCTP Cy5 (test strain) using random primers (Promega) and a DNA polymerase I large Klenow fragment (Invitrogen). Labelled gDNA was hybridized using the Agilent CGH kit (part number 5188-5220) as described in the Agilent Oligonucleotide Array-Based CGH for Genomic DNA Analysis (v6.0) manual (publication number G4410-90010). Validation of the CGH was performed by comparing the hybridization efficiency of DNA of the B. breve type strain DSM 20213 to sequence identity of this strain with the probes on the microarray. A clear correlation was observed between sequence identity and hybridization efficiency, suggesting that an ln 2 fold change in signal intensity between target and control is sufficient to determine whether a gene is present or absent on a given genome. Therefore, a gene was considered absent when the ratio between a test strain and UCC2003 was < ln 2 with a corresponding P value that was <0.0001.
2011-07-01 | E-GEOD-27491 | biostudies-arrayexpress
Project description:Bifidobacteria constitute a specific group of commensal bacteria that inhabit the gastrointestinal tracts of humans and other mammals. Bifidobacterium breve UCC2003 has previously been shown to utilize several plant-derived carbohydrates that include cellodextrins, starch, and galactan. In the present study, we investigated the ability of this strain to utilize the mucin- and human milk oligosaccharide (HMO)-derived carbohydrate sialic acid. Using a combination of transcriptomic and functional genomic approaches, we identified a gene cluster dedicated to the uptake and metabolism of sialic acid. Furthermore, we demonstrate that B. breve UCC2003 can cross feed on sialic acid derived from the metabolism of 3'-sialyllactose, an abundant HMO, by another infant gut bifidobacterial strain, Bifidobacterium bifidum PRL2010.
| S-EPMC4068672 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The molecular interactions between the bifidobacterial cell and its natural environment, namely, the gastrointestinal tract of its host, are particularly important in understanding the presumed positive effects of Bifidobacterium on the health status of the host. In this study an export-specific reporter system, designed for use in gram-positive organisms and based on the use of the staphylococcal nuclease (Nuc) as a reporter, was employed to identify exported proteins in Bifidobacterium breve UCC2003. A B. breve genomic library of translational fusions to the Nuc-encoding gene devoid of its own export signal was established in the shuttle vector pFUN (I. Poquet, S. D. Ehrlich, and A. Gruss, J. Bacteriol. 180:1904-1912, 1998) and screened for bifidobacterial export signals. Sequence analysis of the fusion proteins obtained that displayed a nuclease-producing phenotype in both Lactococcus lactis and B. breve predicted the presence of a classical signal peptide and/or single or multiple transmembrane domains, thus indicating that some of the export signals in B. breve are comparable to those used in L. lactis. Cell fractionation studies, zymograms, nuclease assays, and Western blotting were employed to confirm the function of the predicted signals and to determine the location and activity of the exported fusion proteins in B. breve and/or L. lactis.
| S-EPMC309956 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Bifidobacteria constitute a specific group of commensal bacteria typically found in the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) of humans and other mammals. Bifidobacterium breve strains are numerically prevalent among the gut microbiota of many healthy breastfed infants. In the present study, we investigated glycosulfatase activity in a bacterial isolate from a nursling stool sample, B. breve UCC2003. Two putative sulfatases were identified on the genome of B. breve UCC2003. The sulfated monosaccharide N-acetylglucosamine-6-sulfate (GlcNAc-6-S) was shown to support the growth of B. breve UCC2003, while N-acetylglucosamine-3-sulfate, N-acetylgalactosamine-3-sulfate, and N-acetylgalactosamine-6-sulfate did not support appreciable growth. By using a combination of transcriptomic and functional genomic approaches, a gene cluster designated ats2 was shown to be specifically required for GlcNAc-6-S metabolism. Transcription of the ats2 cluster is regulated by a repressor open reading frame kinase (ROK) family transcriptional repressor. This study represents the first description of glycosulfatase activity within the Bifidobacterium genus.ImportanceBifidobacteria are saccharolytic organisms naturally found in the digestive tract of mammals and insects. Bifidobacterium breve strains utilize a variety of plant- and host-derived carbohydrates that allow them to be present as prominent members of the infant gut microbiota as well as being present in the gastrointestinal tract of adults. In this study, we introduce a previously unexplored area of carbohydrate metabolism in bifidobacteria, namely, the metabolism of sulfated carbohydrates. B. breve UCC2003 was shown to metabolize N-acetylglucosamine-6-sulfate (GlcNAc-6-S) through one of two sulfatase-encoding gene clusters identified on its genome. GlcNAc-6-S can be found in terminal or branched positions of mucin oligosaccharides, the glycoprotein component of the mucous layer that covers the digestive tract. The results of this study provide further evidence of the ability of this species to utilize mucin-derived sugars, a trait which may provide a competitive advantage in both the infant gut and adult gut.
| S-EPMC5086555 | biostudies-literature
Project description:In the present study we show that luxS of Bifidobacterium breve UCC2003 is involved in the production of the interspecies signaling molecule autoinducer-2 (AI-2), and that this gene is essential for gastrointestinal colonization of a murine host, while it is also involved in providing protection against Salmonella infection in Caenorhabditis elegans. We demonstrate that a B. breve luxS-insertion mutant is significantly more susceptible to iron chelators than the WT strain and that this sensitivity can be partially reverted in the presence of the AI-2 precursor DPD. Furthermore, we show that several genes of an iron starvation-induced gene cluster, which are downregulated in the luxS-insertion mutant and which encodes a presumed iron-uptake system, are transcriptionally upregulated under in vivo conditions. Mutation of two genes of this cluster in B. breve UCC2003 renders the derived mutant strains sensitive to iron chelators while deficient in their ability to confer gut pathogen protection to Salmonella-infected nematodes. Since a functional luxS gene is present in all tested members of the genus Bifidobacterium, we conclude that bifidobacteria operate a LuxS-mediated system for gut colonization and pathogen protection that is correlated with iron acquisition.
| S-EPMC4037206 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Growth of Bifidobacterium breve UCC2003 on ribose leads to the transcriptional induction of the rbsACBDK gene cluster. Generation and phenotypic analysis of an rbsA insertion mutant established that the rbs gene cluster is essential for ribose utilization, and that its transcription is likely regulated by a LacI-type regulator encoded by rbsR, located immediately upstream of rbsA. Gel mobility shift assays using purified RbsR(His) indicate that the promoter upstream of rbsABCDK is negatively controlled by RbsR(His) binding to an 18 bp inverted repeat and that RbsR(His) binding activity is modulated by D-ribose. The rbsK gene of the rbs operon of B. breve UCC2003 was shown to specify a ribokinase (EC 2.7.1.15), which specifically directs its phosphorylating activity towards D-ribose, converting this pentose sugar to ribose-5-phosphate.
| S-EPMC3815373 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Bifidobacteria are claimed to contribute positively to human health through a range of beneficial or probiotic activities, including amelioration of gastrointestinal and metabolic disorders, and therefore this particular group of gastrointestinal commensals has enjoyed increasing industrial and scientific attention in recent years. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying these probiotic mechanisms are still largely unknown, mainly due to the fact that molecular tools for bifidobacteria are rather poorly developed, with many strains lacking genetic accessibility. In this work, we describe the generation of transposon insertion mutants in two bifidobacterial strains, B. breve UCC2003 and B. breve NCFB2258. We also report the creation of the first transposon mutant library in a bifidobacterial strain, employing B. breve UCC2003 and a Tn5-based transposome strategy. The library was found to be composed of clones containing single transposon insertions which appear to be randomly distributed along the genome. The usefulness of the library to perform phenotypic screenings was confirmed through identification and analysis of mutants defective in D-galactose, D-lactose or pullulan utilization abilities.
| S-EPMC3667832 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Two alpha-glucosidase-encoding genes (agl1 and agl2) from Bifidobacterium breve UCC2003 were identified and characterized. Based on their similarity to characterized carbohydrate hydrolases, the Agl1 and Agl2 enzymes are both assigned to a subgroup of the glycosyl hydrolase family 13, the alpha-1,6-glucosidases (EC 3.2.1.10). Recombinant Agl1 and Agl2 into which a His(12) sequence was incorporated (Agl1(His) and Agl2(His), respectively) exhibited hydrolytic activity towards panose, isomaltose, isomaltotriose, and four sucrose isomers--palatinose, trehalulose, turanose, and maltulose--while also degrading trehalose and, to a lesser extent, nigerose. The preferred substrates for both enzymes were panose, isomaltose, and trehalulose. Furthermore, the pH and temperature optima for both enzymes were determined, showing that Agl1(His) exhibits higher thermo and pH optima than Agl2(His). The two purified alpha-1,6-glucosidases were also shown to have transglycosylation activity, synthesizing oligosaccharides from palatinose, trehalulose, trehalose, panose, and isomaltotriose.
| S-EPMC2643558 | biostudies-literature