title: Bifidobacterium breve UCC2003 metabolises the human milk oligosaccharides lacto-N-tetraose and lacto-N-neo-tetraose through overlapping, yet distinct pathways.
abstract: In this study, we demonstrate that the prototype B. breve strain UCC2003 possesses specific metabolic pathways for the utilisation of lacto-N-tetraose (LNT) and lacto-N-neotetraose (LNnT), which represent the central moieties of Type I and Type II human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs), respectively. Using a combination of experimental approaches, the enzymatic machinery involved in the metabolism of LNT and LNnT was identified and characterised. Homologs of the key genetic loci involved in the utilisation of these HMO substrates were identified in B. breve, B. bifidum, B. longum subsp. infantis and B. longum subsp. longum using bioinformatic analyses, and were shown to be variably present among other members of the Bifidobacterium genus, with a distinct pattern of conservation among human-associated bifidobacterial species.
authors.affiliation: School of Microbiology, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland.|APC Microbiome Institute, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland.
authors.forename: Kieran
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: James
authors.affiliation: APC Microbiome Institute, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland.
authors.forename: Mary O'Connell
authors.initials: MO
authors.lastname: Motherway
authors.affiliation: APC Microbiome Institute, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland.
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bottacini
authors.affiliation: School of Microbiology, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland.|APC Microbiome Institute, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland.
authors.forename: Douwe
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: van Sinderen
mesh_terms: D000606:Amino Sugars / Q000494:pharmacology; D000069984:Bifidobacterium breve / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*; D002852:Chromatography, Ion Exchange; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial / Q000187:drug effects; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D056426:Genetic Loci; D006801:Humans; D007785:Lactose / Q000494:pharmacology; D053858:Metabolic Networks and Pathways / Q000187:drug effects; D008895:Milk, Human / Q000378:metabolism*; D008954:Models, Biological; D009154:Mutation / Q000235:genetics; D009844:Oligosaccharides / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D010641:Phenotype
chemical_list: D000606:Amino Sugars; D009844:Oligosaccharides; C032233:lactosamine; C013084:lacto-N-neotetraose; D007785:Lactose