Phenotypic and Genomic Diversification in Complex Carbohydrate-Degrading Human Gut Bacteria
Nicholas A. Pudlo, Karthik Urs, Ryan Crawford, Ali Pirani, Todd Atherly, Roberto Jimenez, Nicolas Terrapon, Bernard Henrissat, Daniel A. Peterson, Cherie J. Ziemer, Evan S. Snitkin, Eric C. Martens
Abstract
Nonharmful bacteria are the primary microbial symbionts that inhabit the human gastrointestinal tract. These bacteria play many beneficial roles and in some cases can modify disease states, making it important to understand which nutrients sustain specific lineages. This knowledge will in turn lead to strategies to intentionally manipulate the gut microbial ecosystem. We designed a scalable, high-throughput platform for measuring the ability of gut bacteria to utilize polysaccharides, of which many are derived from dietary fiber sources that can be manipulated easily. Our results provide paths to expand phenotypic surveys of more diverse gut bacteria to understand their functions and also to leverage dietary fibers to alter the physiology of the gut microbial community.