Improving Bacteroides cellulosilyticus abundance is a feasible approach to treating inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Although B. cellulosilyticus is responsive to dietary components, untargeted manipulation cannot focus on target microbe and lead to an increase in harmful bacteria in the microbiota . Breakthroughs in methods for regulating specific microbes, but the protocols are expensive, time-consuming, and difficult to follow. Glycans based on microbial-carbohydrate-active enzymes (CAZymes) would provide a potential solution. We propose a method based on CAZymes to explore polysaccharides that target specific gut microbes and alleviate diseases. The designed polysaccharides (Arabinogalactan, AG) enrich the abundance of B. cellulosilyticus in single-strain co-cultures, fermentation in vitro , and mouse models in vivo . Supplementation with AG relieved mice from colitis and clinical symptoms. We reveal that AG directly alters B. cellulosilyticus level and cooperative microbes, resulting in remission of colitis. Our glycan design pipeline is a promising way to improve disease through the targeted enhancement of specific microbes.
Epimedium Folium(EF) is a traditional Chinese herbal medicine, and its primary bioactive ingredients, such as icariin, are flavonoid glycosides. A rare EF flavonoid, baohuoside I, exhibits superior bioactivities and enhanced bioavailability compared to its metabolic precursor icariin. The biotransformation of icariin to baohuoside I can be effectively and specifically achieved by β-glucosidases. In this study, 33 candidate full-length β-glucosidase genes were screened from a previously built carbohydrate active enzyme (CAZyme) gene dataset derived from cow fecal microbiota. Thirteen of them exhibited β-glucosidase activity, with DCF-bgl-26 and DCF-bgl-27 showing relatively high expression levels and β-glucosidase activity. The maximum β-glucosidase activity of DCF-bgl-26 and DCF-bgl-27 was achieved at 45 °C and pH 6.0, with DCF-bgl-26 demonstrating better thermostability and pH tolerance compared to DCF-bgl-27. The activities of DCF-bgl-26 and DCF-bgl-27 were 123.2 U/mg protein and 157.9 U/mg protein, respectively, both of which are higher than those of many bacterial β-glucosidases. Structure analysis suggested that both β-glucosidases possess canonical (β/α)8-TIM barrel fold structure of GH1 family β-glucosidases. Thin-layer chromatography results showed that both enzymes could efficiently convert icariin to baohuoside I in 30 min, indicating they have potential application in the production of high value rare baohuoside I.
Members of the phylum Bacteroidetes play a key role in the marine carbon cycle through their degradation of polysaccharides via carbohydrate-active enzymes (CAZymes) and polysaccharide utilization loci (PULs). The discovery of novel CAZymes and PULs is important for our understanding of the marine carbon cycle. In this study, we isolated and identified a potential new genus of the family Catalimonadaceae, in the phylum Bacteroidetes, from the southwest Indian Ocean. Strain TK19036, the type strain of the new genus, is predicted to encode CAZymes that are relatively abundant in marine Bacteroidetes genomes. Tunicatimonas pelagia NBRC 107804 T , Porifericola rhodea NBRC 107748 T and Catalinimonas niigatensis NBRC 109829 T , which exhibit 16 S rRNA similarities exceeding 90% with strain TK19036, and belong to the same family, were selected as reference strains. These organisms possess a highly diverse repertoire of CAZymes and PULs, which may enable them to degrade a wide range of polysaccharides, especially pectin and alginate. In addition, some secretory CAZymes in strain TK19036 and its relatives were predicted to be transported by type IX secretion system (T9SS). Further, to the best of our knowledge, we propose the first reported “hybrid” PUL targeting alginates in T. pelagia NBRC 107804 T . Our findings provide new insights into the polysaccharide degradation capacity of marine Bacteroidetes, and suggest that T9SS may play a more important role in this process than previously believed.