TY - JOUR
T1 - Mucin-Degrading Microbes Release Monosaccharides That Chemoattract Clostridioides difficile and Facilitate Colonization of the Human Intestinal Mucus Layer
AU - Engevik, Melinda A.
AU - Engevik, Amy C.
AU - Engevik, Kristen A.
AU - Auchtung, Jennifer M.
AU - Chang-Graham, Alexandra L.
AU - Ruan, Wenly
AU - Luna, Ruth Ann
AU - Hyser, Joseph M.
AU - Spinler, Jennifer K.
AU - Versalovic, James
PY - 2020
Y1 - 2020
N2 - It is widely accepted that the pathogen Clostridioides difficile exploits an intestinal environment with an altered microbiota, but the details of these microbe-microbe interactions are unclear. Adherence and colonization of mucus has been demonstrated for several enteric pathogens and it is possible that mucin-associated microbes may be working in concert with C. difficile. We showed that C. difficile ribotype-027 adheres to MUC2 glycans and using fecal bioreactors, we identified that C. difficile associates with several mucin-degrading microbes. C. difficile was found to chemotax toward intestinal mucus and its glycan components, demonstrating that C. difficile senses the mucus layer. Although C. difficile lacks the glycosyl hydrolases required to degrade mucin glycans, coculturing C. difficile with the mucin-degrading Akkermansia muciniphila, Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron, and Ruminococcus torques allowed C. difficile to grow in media that lacked glucose but contained purified MUC2. Collectively, these studies expand our knowledge on how intestinal microbes support C. difficile.
AB - It is widely accepted that the pathogen Clostridioides difficile exploits an intestinal environment with an altered microbiota, but the details of these microbe-microbe interactions are unclear. Adherence and colonization of mucus has been demonstrated for several enteric pathogens and it is possible that mucin-associated microbes may be working in concert with C. difficile. We showed that C. difficile ribotype-027 adheres to MUC2 glycans and using fecal bioreactors, we identified that C. difficile associates with several mucin-degrading microbes. C. difficile was found to chemotax toward intestinal mucus and its glycan components, demonstrating that C. difficile senses the mucus layer. Although C. difficile lacks the glycosyl hydrolases required to degrade mucin glycans, coculturing C. difficile with the mucin-degrading Akkermansia muciniphila, Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron, and Ruminococcus torques allowed C. difficile to grow in media that lacked glucose but contained purified MUC2. Collectively, these studies expand our knowledge on how intestinal microbes support C. difficile.
KW - Akkermansia
KW - Bacteroides
KW - Clostridioides difficile
KW - glycans
KW - MUC2
KW - Rumminococcus
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85096651745&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85096651745&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1021/acsinfecdis.0c00634
DO - 10.1021/acsinfecdis.0c00634
M3 - Article
C2 - 33176423
AN - SCOPUS:85096651745
JO - ACS Infectious Diseases
JF - ACS Infectious Diseases
SN - 2373-8227
ER -