Ruminococcus gnavus, a member of the human gut microbiome associated with Crohn's disease, produces an inflammatory polysaccharide.

ABSTRACT: A substantial and increasing number of human diseases are associated with changes in the gut microbiota, and discovering the molecules and mechanisms underlying these associations represents a major research goal. Multiple studies associate Ruminococcus gnavus, a prevalent gut microbe, with Crohn's disease, a major type of inflammatory bowel disease. We have found that R. gnavus synthesizes and secretes a complex glucorhamnan polysaccharide with a rhamnose backbone and glucose sidechains. Chemical and spectroscopic studies indicated that the glucorhamnan was largely a repeating unit of five sugars with a linear backbone formed from three rhamnose units and a short sidechain composed of two glucose units. The rhamnose backbone is made from 1,2- and 1,3-linked rhamnose units, a

SUBMITTER: Henke MT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6601261 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature