Project name: Lactiplantibacillus plantarum WCFS1

Description: Short-chain fructooligosaccharides (scFOS) and other prebiotics are used to selectively stimulate the growth and activity of lactobacilli and bifidobacteria in the colon. However, there is little information on the mechanisms whereby prebiotics exert their specific effects upon such microorganisms. To study the genomic basis of scFOS metabolism in Lactobacillus plantarum WCFS1, two-colour microarrays were used to screen for differentially expressed genes when grown on scFOS as compared to glucose (not a prebiotic). A significant up-regulation (8 to 60-fold) was observed with a set of only five genes located in a single locus and predicted to encode a sucrose phosphoenolpyruvate transport system (PTS), a â-fructofuranosidase, a fructokinase, an á-glucosidase and a sucrose operon repressor. Several other genes were slightly overexpressed, including pyruvate dehydrogenase. For the latter, no detectable activity in L. plantarum under various growth conditions, has been previously reported. A mannose-PTS likely to encode glucose uptake was 50-fold down-regulated as well as, to a lower extent, other PTS. Chemical analysis of the different moieties of scFOS that were depleted in the growth medium revealed that the trisaccharide 1-kestose present in scFOS was preferentially utilized, in comparison with the tetrasaccharide nystose and the pentasaccharide fructofuranosylnystose. The main end-products of scFOS fermentation were lactate and acetate. This is the first example in lactobacilli of the association of a sucrose PTS and a â-fructofuranosidase for scFOS degradation.Keywords: comparative transcriptomics, carbohydrate metabolismOverall design: Two culture conditions (growth on glucose or scFOS) and 2 biological replicates per culture condition. Cultures grown on glucose were sampled at OD600=1 and cultures grown on scFOS were sampled at OD600=1 and OD600=1.5. The hybridisation scheme has a circular design in which each sample is labeled once with Cy3 and Cy5.

Data type: Transcriptome or Gene expression

Sample scope: Multiisolate

Relevance: Industrial

Release date: 2007-02-13

Last updated: 2006-09-20