Adaptation of Akkermansia muciniphila to the Oxic-Anoxic Interface of the Mucus Layer.
Akkermansia muciniphilacolonizes the mucus layer of the gastrointestinal tract, where the organism can be exposed to the oxygen that diffuses from epithelial cells. To understand howA. muciniphilais able to survive and grow at this oxic-anoxic interface, its oxygen tolerance and response and reduction capacities were studied.A. muciniphilawas found to be oxygen tolerant. On top of this, under aerated conditions,A. muciniphilashowed significant oxygen reduction capacities and its growth rate and yield were increased compared to those seen under strict anaerobic conditions. Transcriptome analysis revealed an initial oxygen stress response upon exposure to oxygen. Thereafter, genes related to respiration were expressed, including those coding for the cytochromebdcomplex, which can function as a terminal oxidase. The functionality ofA. muciniphilacytochromebdgenes was proven by successfully complementing cytochrome-deficientEscherichia colistrain ECOM4. We conclude thatA. muciniphilacan use oxygen when it is present at nanomolar concentrations.IMPORTANCEThis article explains howAkkermansia muciniphila, previously described as a strictly anaerobic bacterium, is able to tolerate and even benefit from low levels of oxygen. Interestingly, we measured growth enhancement ofA. muciniphilaand changes in metabolism as a result of the oxygen exposure. In this article, we discuss similarities and differences of this oxygen-responsive mechanism with respect to those of other intestinal anaerobic isolates. Taken together, we think that these are valuable data that indicate how anaerobic intestinal colonizing bacteria can exploit low levels of oxygen present in the mucus layer and that our results have direct relevance for applicability, as addition of low oxygen concentrations could benefit thein vitrogrowth of certain anaerobic organisms.
Laboratory of Microbiology, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
Janneke P
JP
Ouwerkerk
Laboratory of Microbiology, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
Kees C H
KCH
van der Ark
Systems and Synthetic Biology, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
Mark
M
Davids
Laboratory of Microbiology, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
Nico J
NJ
Claassens
Laboratory of Microbiology, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
Teresa Robert
TR
Finestra
Laboratory of Microbiology, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands.|Department of Veterinary Biosciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.|RPU Immunobiology, Department of Bacteriology & Immunology, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
Willem M
WM
de Vos
Laboratory of Microbiology, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands clara.belzer@wur.nl.
Clara
C
Belzer
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