Degradation of complex arabinoxylans by human colonic Bacteroidetes

Gabriel V. Pereira, Ahmed M. Abdel-Hamid, Soumajit Dutta, Corina N. D’Alessandro-Gabazza, Daniel Wefers, Jacob A. Farris, Shiv Bajaj, Zdzislaw Wawrzak, Haruyuki Atomi, Roderick I. Mackie, Esteban C. Gabazza, Diwakar Shukla, Nicole M. Koropatkin, Isaac Cann*

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    107 Scopus citations

    Abstract

    Some Bacteroidetes and other human colonic bacteria can degrade arabinoxylans, common polysaccharides found in dietary fiber. Previous work has identified gene clusters (polysaccharide-utilization loci, PULs) for degradation of simple arabinoxylans. However, the degradation of complex arabinoxylans (containing side chains such as ferulic acid, a phenolic compound) is poorly understood. Here, we identify a PUL that encodes multiple esterases for degradation of complex arabinoxylans in Bacteroides species. The PUL is specifically upregulated in the presence of complex arabinoxylans. We characterize some of the esterases biochemically and structurally, and show that they release ferulic acid from complex arabinoxylans. Growth of four different colonic Bacteroidetes members, including Bacteroides intestinalis, on complex arabinoxylans results in accumulation of ferulic acid, a compound known to have antioxidative and immunomodulatory properties.

    Original languageEnglish (US)
    Article number459
    JournalNature communications
    Volume12
    Issue number1
    DOIs
    StatePublished - Dec 1 2021

    Funding

    The research was supported by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number RO1GM140306 to R.I.M., N.M.K., and I.C., and in part by funding from the Microbiome Metabolic Engineering Theme (MME) of the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. The funders had no role in the study design, data analyses, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. I.C. would like to acknowledge support during sabbatical by the Top Global University Program, Kyoto University, Japan.

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • General Chemistry
    • General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
    • General Physics and Astronomy

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