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Sulfation of Arabinogalactan Proteins Confers Privileged Nutrient Status to Bacteroides plebeius.

ABSTRACT: The human gut microbiota (HGM) contributes to the physiology and health of its host. The health benefits provided by dietary manipulation of the HGM require knowledge of how glycans, the major nutrients available to this ecosystem, are metabolized. Arabinogalactan proteins (AGPs) are a ubiquitous feature of plant polysaccharides available to the HGM. Although the galactan backbone and galactooligosaccharide side chains of AGPs are conserved, the decorations of these structures are highly variable. Here, we tested the hypothesis that these variations in arabinogalactan decoration provide a selection mechanism for specific Bacteroides species within the HGM. The data showed that only a single bacterium, B. plebeius, grew on red wine AGP (Wi-AGP) and seaweed AGP (SW-AGP) in mono- or mixed culture. Wi-AGP thus acts as a privileged nutrient for a Bacteroides species within the HGM that utilizes marine and terrestrial plant glycans. The B. plebeius polysaccharide utilization loci (PULs) upregulated by AGPs encoded a polysaccharide lyase, located in the enzyme family GH145, which hydrolyzed Rha-Glc linkages in Wi-AGP. Further analysis of GH145 identified an enzyme with two active sites that displayed glycoside hydrolase and lyase activities, respectively, which conferred substrate flexibility for different AGPs. The AGP-degrading apparatus of B. plebeius also contained a sulfatase, BpS1_8, active on SW-AGP and Wi-AGP, which played a pivotal role in the utilization of these glycans by the bacterium. BpS1_8 enabled other Bacteroides species to access the sulfated AGPs, providing a route to introducing privileged nutrient utilization into probiotic and commensal organisms that could improve human health. IMPORTANCE Dietary manipulation of the HGM requires knowledge of how glycans available to this ecosystem are metabolized. The variable structures that decorate the core component of plant AGPs may influence their utilization by specific organisms within the HGM. Here, we evaluated the ability of Bacteroides species to utilize a marine and terrestrial AGP. The data showed that a single bacterium, B. plebeius, grew on Wi-AGP and SW-AGP in mono- or mixed culture. Wi-AGP is thus a privileged nutrient for a Bacteroides species that utilizes marine and terrestrial plant glycans. A key component of the AGP-degrading apparatus of B. plebeius is a sulfatase that conferred the ability of the bacterium to utilize these glycans. The enzyme enabled other Bacteroides species to access the sulfated AGPs, providing a route to introducing privileged nutrient utilization into probiotic and commensal organisms that could improve human health.

SUBMITTER: Munoz-Munoz J

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8406133 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:Glycans, the major source of energy for the human gut microbiota (HGM), are metabolised by numerous members of the Bacteroides genus. Arabinogalactan proteins (AGPs) are a ubiquitous and highly heterogenous group of plant glycans in which a B1,3-galactan backbone and B1,6-galactan side chains are conserved features. Diversity is provided by the extensive and highly variable nature of the sugars that decorate both the backbone and side chain galactans. The mechanisms by which nutritionally relevant AGPs are degraded at a cellular and biochemical level are poorly understood, as is the impact of this process on the ecology of the HGM. Here we have explored how the HGM organism Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron metabolises simple and highly complex AGPs. We propose a sequential degradative model in which a repertoire of exo-acting family GH43 B1,3-galactanases releases backbone galactose units that are attached to the side chains. The oligosaccharide side chains are depolymerized by the synergistic action of exo-acting enzymes in which catalytic interactions are dependent on whether degradation is initiated by a lyase or glycoside hydrolase. We identified an a-L-arabinofuranosidase and B-D-glucuronidase that are the founders of two previously undiscovered glycoside hydrolase families. The crystal structures of the backbone exo-B1,3-galactanases identified a key specificity determinant and reveals significant departure from the canonical catalytic apparatus of other family GH43 enzymes. Growth studies of 20 HGM Bacteroidetes species on a complex AGP revealed three keystone organisms that facilitated utilisation of fragments of the glycan by the 17 other bacteria, which thus acted as recipients. The ability to function as a keystone organism was conferred by a surface endo-B1,3-galactanase, which, when engineered into a recipient enabled this bacterium to utilise complex AGPs and facilitate the growth of the other Bacteroidetes species. This study underpins future pre- and probiotic strategies to exploit AGPs to manipulate the function of the HGM.

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Sulfation of Arabinogalactan Proteins Confers Privileged Nutrient Status to Bacteroides plebeius.

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