Project description:Bacteroidaceae are common gut microbiota members in all warm-blooded animals. However, if Bacteroidaceae are to be used as probiotics, the species selected for different hosts should reflect the natural distribution. In this study, we therefore evaluated host adaptation of bacterial species belonging to the family Bacteroidaceae. B. dorei, B. uniformis, B. xylanisolvens, B. ovatus, B. clarus, B. thetaiotaomicron and B. vulgatus represented human-adapted species while B. gallinaceum, B. caecigallinarum, B. mediterraneensis, B. caecicola, M. massiliensis, B. plebeius and B. coprocola were commonly detected in chicken but not human gut microbiota. There were 29 genes which were present in all human-adapted Bacteroides but absent from the genomes of all chicken isolates and these included genes required for the pentose cycle, and glutamate or histidine metabolism. These genes were expressed during an in vitro competitive assay, in which human-adapted Bacteroides species overgrew the chicken adapted isolates. Not a single gene specific for the chicken-adapted species was found. Instead, chicken adapted species exhibited signs of frequent horizontal gene transfer, of KUP, linA and sugE genes in particular. The differences in host adaptation should be considered when the new generation of probiotics for humans or chickens is designed.
Project description:Investigation of whole genome gene expression level changes in a Bacteroides fragilis NCTC 9343 delta-ungD1 delta-ungD2 double mutant compared to the wild-type strain. Keywords: expression analysis A six chip study using total RNA recovered from three separate wild-type cultures of Bacteroides fragilis NCTC 9343 and three separate cultures of a double mutant strain, Bacteroides fragilis NCTC 9343 delta-ungD1 delta-ungD2, in which ungD1 (BF1706) and ungD2 (BF2848) are deleted. Each chip measures the expression level of 4,302 genes from Bacteroides fragilis NCTC 9343 and the associated plasmid pBF9343 with fourteen 24-mer probe pairs (PM/MM) per gene, with three-fold technical redundancy.
Project description:Investigation of whole genome gene expression level changes in a Bacteroides fragilis NCTC 9343 delta-gmd-fcl delta-fkp mutant strain and a Bacteroides fragilis NCTC 9343 delta-lfg mutant strain, each as compared to the wild-type strain. The mutations engineered into these strains interfere with B. fragilis protein glycosylation.