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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Microorganisms in Vertebrate Digestive Systems
Volume 15 - 2024 |
doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2024.1435960
Molecular cross-talk among human intestinal bifidobacteria as explored by a human gut model
Provisionally accepted- 1 University of Parma, Parma, Italy
- 2 University College Cork, Cork, Ireland
Bifidobacteria are well known as common and abundant colonizers of the human gut and are able to exert multiple beneficial effects on their host, although the cooperative and competitive relationships that may occur among bifidobacterial strains are still poorly investigated. Therefore, to dissect possible molecular interactions among bifidobacterial species that typically colonize the human gut, three previously identified bifidobacterial prototypes, i.e., B. bifidum PRL2010, B. breve PRL2012, and B. longum PRL2022 were cultivated individually as well as in bi- and tri-association in a human gut-simulating medium. Transcriptomic analyses of these co-associations revealed up-regulation of genes predicted to be involved in the production of extracellular structures including pili (i.e., flp pilus assembly TadE protein gene), exopolysaccharides (i.e., GtrA family protein gene) and teichoic acids (i.e., ABC transporter permease), along with carbohydrate, amino acid and vitamin metabolism-related genes (i.e., exo-alpha-sialidase; beta-galactosidase and pyridoxamine kinase), suggesting that co-cultivation of bifidobacteria induces a response, in individual bifidobacterial strains, aimed at enhancing their proliferation and survival, as well as their ability to cooperate with their host to promote their persistence. Furthermore, exposure of the selected prototypes to human cell line monolayers unveiled the ability of the bifidobacterial tri-association to communicate with their host by increasing the expression of genes involved in adherence to/interaction with intestinal human cells. Lastly, bifidobacterial tri-association promoted the transcriptional upregulation of genes responsible for maintaining the integrity and homeostasis of the intestinal epithelial barrier.
Keywords: Bifidobacterium, probiotic, Co-association, Gut Microbiota, gut microbiome, co-culture, metatranscriptomics
Received: 21 May 2024; Accepted: 28 Aug 2024.
Copyright: © 2024 Rizzo, Alessandri, Tarracchini, Bianchi, Viappiani, Mancabelli, Lugli, Milani, Bussolati, Van Sinderen, Ventura and Turroni. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Francesca Turroni, University of Parma, Parma, Italy
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