Project description:Gut microbiota has profound effects on obesity and associated metabolic disorders. Targeting and shaping the gut microbiota via dietary intervention using probiotics, prebiotics and synbiotics can be effective in obesity management. Despite the well-known association between gut microbiota and obesity, the microbial alternations by synbiotics intervention, especially at the functional level, are still not characterized. In this study, we investigated the effects of synbiotics on high fat diet (HFD)-induced metabolic disorders, and systematically profiled the microbial profile at both the phylogenetic and functional levels. Synbiotics significantly reversed the HFD-induced change of microbial populations at the levels of richness, taxa and OTUs. Potentially important species Faecalibaculum rodentium and Alistipes putredinis that might mediate the beneficial effects of synbiotics were identified. At the functional level, short chain fatty acid and bile acid profiles revealed that interventions significantly restored cecal levels of acetate, propionate, and butyrate, and synbiotics reduced the elevated total bile acid level. Metaproteomics revealed the effect of synbiotics might be mediated through pathways involved in carbohydrate, amino acid, and energy metabolisms, replication and repair, etc. These results suggested that dietary intervention using our novel synbiotics alleviated HFD-induced weight gain and restored microbial ecosystem homeostasis phylogenetically and functionally.
Project description:Consumption of diets rich in fibers has been associated with several beneficial effects on gastrointestinal health. However, detailed studies on the molecular effects of fibers in colon are limited. In this study we investigated and compared the influence of five different fibers on the mucosal transcriptome, and luminal microbiota and SCFA concentrations in murine colon. Mice were fed diets enriched with fibers that differed in carbohydrate composition, namely inulin (IN), oligofructose (FOS), arabinoxylan (AX), guar gum (GG), resistant starch (RS) or a control diet (corn starch) for 10 days. Gene expression profiling revealed the regulation of specific, but also overlapping sets of epithelial genes by each fiber, which on a functional level were mainly linked to cell cycle and various metabolic pathways including fatty acid oxidation, tricarboxylic acid cycle, and electron transport chain. In addition, the transcription factor PPAR was predicted to be a prominent upstream regulator of these processes. Microbiota profiles were distinct per dietary fiber, but the fibers IN, FOS, AX and GG induced a common change in microbial groups. All dietary fibers, except resistant starch, increased SCFA concentrations but to a different extent. Multivariate data integration revealed strong correlations between the expression of genes involved in energy metabolism and the relative abundance of bacteria belonging to the group of Clostridium cluster XIVa, that are known butyrate producers. These findings illustrate the potential of multivariate data analysis to unravel simple relationships in complex systems. Keywords: Expression profiling by array Mice received a control diet, or a diet supplemented with 10% dietary fibers for 10 days. After an overnight fast colon was removed, epithelial cells were scraped off, and subjected to gene expression profiling.
Project description:Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L) is an important crop world wide that provides fiber for the textile industry. Cotton is a perennial plant that stores starch in stems and roots to provide carbohydrates for growth in subsequent seasons. These reserves are not available to produce seed and fiber when cotton is usually grown as an annual crop. Analysis of developing cotton plants indicated that starch levels peaked about the time of first anthesis then began to decline. An earlier peak of levels of starch was occasionally observed and in some greenhouse-grown samples starch increased 2 week after first bloom. Microarray analyses compared gene expression in tissues containing low levels of starch with tissues rapidly accumulating starch. Statistical analysis of differentially expressed genes indicated increased expression among genes associated with carbohydrate metabolism, transcription activity and the proteasome. Genes associated with starch synthesis, starch degradation, sucrose metabolism, hexose metabolism, raffinose synthesis and trehalose synthesis increased in expression in starch accumulating tissues. The anticipated changes in these sugars were largely confirmed by measuring soluble sugars in relevant tissues. We propose that altering expressions of genes and pathways identified in this work could be used to more efficiently mobilize stored carbohydrate to fiber production. Keywords: starch accumulating, stem, root
Project description:We sought to examine whether directly dietary fiber application to offspring could also reverse the behavioral and neurobiological deficits characteristic of MHFD offspring. RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) on mice hippocampus were performed in order to identify the key biological processes and pathways regulated by dietary fiber.
Project description:Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L) is an important crop world wide that provides fiber for the textile industry. Cotton is a perennial plant that stores starch in stems and roots to provide carbohydrates for growth in subsequent seasons. These reserves are not available to produce seed and fiber when cotton is usually grown as an annual crop. Analysis of developing cotton plants indicated that starch levels peaked about the time of first anthesis then began to decline. An earlier peak of levels of starch was occasionally observed and in some greenhouse-grown samples starch increased 2 week after first bloom. Microarray analyses compared gene expression in tissues containing low levels of starch with tissues rapidly accumulating starch. Statistical analysis of differentially expressed genes indicated increased expression among genes associated with carbohydrate metabolism, transcription activity and the proteasome. Genes associated with starch synthesis, starch degradation, sucrose metabolism, hexose metabolism, raffinose synthesis and trehalose synthesis increased in expression in starch accumulating tissues. The anticipated changes in these sugars were largely confirmed by measuring soluble sugars in relevant tissues. We propose that altering expressions of genes and pathways identified in this work could be used to more efficiently mobilize stored carbohydrate to fiber production. Keywords: starch accumulating, stem, root Genes expression was compared between cotton stems that were low in starch and accumulating starch. Gene expression was also compared between cotton roots that were low in starch and accumulating starch. A total of three microarrays were used. One dye swap was used. Material from the field were harvested 2 weeks apart. Greenhouse grown material were planted at two week intervals and harvested at the same time. NOTE that the channel representing the low starch material only gave about half of the total signal than the high starch samples. QPCR of 9 genes confirmed differential expression of 8 of them. QPCR also confirmed similar expression of two genes not predicted to be differentially expressed by the microarray analysis. Therefore no correction was made for the apparent difference in the hybridization of high and low starch samples.
Project description:The aim of this study was to evaluate the responses of meat-type chicken to changes in dietary energy sources by comparing high-fiber high-fat vs. standard high-starch diets and using a transcriptomic approach in three major metabolic tissues - liver, adipose tissue and muscle - as well as in circulating blood cells.
Project description:The aim of this study was to evaluate the responses of meat-type chicken to changes in dietary energy sources by comparing high-fiber high-fat vs. standard high-starch diets and using a transcriptomic approach in three major metabolic tissues - liver, adipose tissue and muscle - as well as in circulating blood cells.