PLoS ONE (Jan 2014)

Metagenomic identification of a novel salt tolerance gene from the human gut microbiome which encodes a membrane protein with homology to a brp/blh-family β-carotene 15,15'-monooxygenase.

  • Eamonn P Culligan,
  • Roy D Sleator,
  • Julian R Marchesi,
  • Colin Hill

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0103318
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 9, no. 7
p. e103318

Abstract

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The human gut microbiome consists of at least 3 million non-redundant genes, 150 times that of the core human genome. Herein, we report the identification and characterisation of a novel stress tolerance gene from the human gut metagenome. The locus, assigned brpA, encodes a membrane protein with homology to a brp/blh-family β-carotene monooxygenase. Cloning and heterologous expression of brpA in Escherichia coli confers a significant salt tolerance phenotype. Furthermore, when cultured in the presence of exogenous β-carotene, cell pellets adopt a red/orange pigmentation indicating the incorporation of carotenoids in the cell membrane.