Metabolism of Four α-Glycosidic Linkage-Containing Oligosaccharides by Bifidobacterium breve UCC2003

Abstract

ABSTRACTMembers of the genusBifidobacteriumare common inhabitants of the gastrointestinal tracts of humans and other mammals, where they ferment many diet-derived carbohydrates that cannot be digested by their hosts. To extend our understanding of bifidobacterial carbohydrate utilization, we investigated the molecular mechanisms by which 11 strains ofBifidobacterium brevemetabolize four distinct α-glucose- and/or α-galactose-containing oligosaccharides, namely, raffinose, stachyose, melibiose, and melezitose. Here we demonstrate that allB. brevestrains examined possess the ability to utilize raffinose, stachyose, and melibiose. However, the ability to metabolize melezitose was not common to allB. brevestrains tested. Transcriptomic and functional genomic approaches identified a gene cluster dedicated to the metabolism of α-galactose-containing carbohydrates, while an adjacent gene cluster, dedicated to the metabolism of α-glucose-containing melezitose, was identified in strains that are able to use this carbohydrate.