Diversification of a Fucosyllactose Transporter within the Genus <i>Bifidobacterium</i>
Miriam N. Ojima, Yuya Asao, Aruto Nakajima, Toshihiko Katoh, Motomitsu Kitaoka, Aina Gotoh, Junko Hirose, Tadasu Urashima, Satoru Fukiya, Atsushi Yokota, Maher Abou Hachem, Mikiyasu Sakanaka, Takane Katayama
Abstract
. We have shown that the diversification of the solute-binding proteins of the FL transporter led to uptake specificities of fucosylated sugars ranging from simple trisaccharides to complex hexasaccharides. This transporter and the congruent acquisition of the necessary intracellular enzymes allow bifidobacteria to consume different types of HMOs in a predictable and strain-dependent manner. These findings explain the adaptation and proliferation of bifidobacteria in the competitive and HMO-rich infant gut environment and enable accurate specificity annotation of transporters from metagenomic data.