Genomic Microdiversity of <italic toggle="yes">Bifidobacterium pseudocatenulatum</italic> Underlying Differential Strain-Level Responses to Dietary Carbohydrate Intervention
Guojun Wu,
Chenhong Zhang,
Huan Wu,
Ruirui Wang,
Jian Shen,
Linghua Wang,
Yufeng Zhao,
Xiaoyan Pang,
Xiaojun Zhang,
Liping Zhao,
Menghui Zhang
Affiliations
Guojun Wu
State Key Laboratory of Microbial Metabolism, Joint International Research Laboratory of Metabolic and Developmental Sciences, and School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China
Chenhong Zhang
State Key Laboratory of Microbial Metabolism, Joint International Research Laboratory of Metabolic and Developmental Sciences, and School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China
Huan Wu
State Key Laboratory of Microbial Metabolism, Joint International Research Laboratory of Metabolic and Developmental Sciences, and School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China
Ruirui Wang
State Key Laboratory of Microbial Metabolism, Joint International Research Laboratory of Metabolic and Developmental Sciences, and School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China
Jian Shen
State Key Laboratory of Microbial Metabolism, Joint International Research Laboratory of Metabolic and Developmental Sciences, and School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China
Linghua Wang
State Key Laboratory of Microbial Metabolism, Joint International Research Laboratory of Metabolic and Developmental Sciences, and School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China
Yufeng Zhao
State Key Laboratory of Microbial Metabolism, Joint International Research Laboratory of Metabolic and Developmental Sciences, and School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China
Xiaoyan Pang
State Key Laboratory of Microbial Metabolism, Joint International Research Laboratory of Metabolic and Developmental Sciences, and School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China
Xiaojun Zhang
State Key Laboratory of Microbial Metabolism, Joint International Research Laboratory of Metabolic and Developmental Sciences, and School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China
Liping Zhao
State Key Laboratory of Microbial Metabolism, Joint International Research Laboratory of Metabolic and Developmental Sciences, and School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China
Menghui Zhang
State Key Laboratory of Microbial Metabolism, Joint International Research Laboratory of Metabolic and Developmental Sciences, and School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China
ABSTRACT The genomic basis of the response to dietary intervention of human gut beneficial bacteria remains elusive, which hinders precise manipulation of the microbiota for human health. After receiving a dietary intervention enriched with nondigestible carbohydrates for 105 days, a genetically obese child with Prader-Willi syndrome lost 18.4% of his body weight and showed significant improvement in his bioclinical parameters. We obtained five isolates (C1, C15, C55, C62, and C95) of one of the most abundantly promoted beneficial species, Bifidobacterium pseudocatenulatum, from a postintervention fecal sample. Intriguingly, these five B. pseudocatenulatum strains showed differential responses during the dietary intervention. Two strains were largely unaffected, while the other three were promoted to different extents by the changes in dietary carbohydrate resources. The differential responses of these strains were consistent with their functional clustering based on the COGs (Clusters of Orthologous Groups), including those involved with the ABC-type sugar transport systems, suggesting that the strain-specific genomic variations may have contributed to the niche adaption. Particularly, B. pseudocatenulatum C15, which had the most diverse types and highest gene copy numbers of carbohydrate-active enzymes targeting plant polysaccharides, had the highest abundance after the dietary intervention. These studies show the importance of understanding genomic diversity of specific members of the gut microbiota if precise nutrition approaches are to be realized. IMPORTANCE The manipulation of the gut microbiota via dietary approaches is a promising option for improving human health. Our findings showed differential responses of multiple B. pseudocatenulatum strains isolated from the same habitat to the dietary intervention, as well as strain-specific correlations with bioclinical parameters of the host. The comparative genomics revealed a genome-level microdiversity of related functional genes, which may have contributed to these differences. These results highlight the necessity of understanding strain-level differences if precise manipulation of gut microbiota through dietary approaches is to be realized.
