Transcriptional and Functional Characterization of genetic elements involved in galacto-oligosaccharide utilisation by Bifidobacterium breve UCC2003
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ABSTRACT: It is increasingly recognised that the gastrointestinal microbiota plays a critical role in human health and promising evidence is accumulating that with dietary strategies, of prebiotic intervention, microbiota imbalances can be corrected and host health improved. Several prebiotics are widely used commercially in foods including inulin, fructo-oligosaccharides, galacto-oligosaccharides and resistant starches and there is convincing evidence, in particular for galacto-oligosaccharides, that prebiotics can modulate the microbiota and promote the growth of bifidobacteria in the intestinal tract of infants and adults. In this study we describe the identification and functional characterisation of the genetic loci responsible for the transport and metabolism of purified galacto-oligosaccharides (PGOS) by our model bifidobacterial strain, B. breve UCC2003. We further demonstrate that the extracellular endogalactanase specified by several B. breve strains, including B. breve UCC2003, is essential for metabolism of PGOS components with a long retention time and high degree of polymerisation. These PGOS components are transported into the bifidobacterial cell via various ABC transport systems and sugar permeases where they are further metabolised to galactose and glucose monomers that feed into the bifid shunt. This research described here advances our understanding of GOS metabolism by bifidobacteria and for the future there is great potential for exploiting bifidobacterial beta-galactosidase to create targeted prebiotics that can enrich for selected Bifiobacteria sp. and other beneficial microbes among the gut microbiota.
ORGANISM(S): Bifidobacterium breve UCC2003
PROVIDER: GSE37214 | GEO | 2014/12/31
SECONDARY ACCESSION(S): PRJNA158941
REPOSITORIES: GEO
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