Title
Comparative genomics of human Lactobacillus crispatus isolates reveals genes for glycosylation and glycogen degradation: Implications for in vivo dominance of the vaginal microbiota
Author
van der Veer, C.
Hertzberger, R.Y.
Bruisten, S.M.
Tytgat, H.L.P.
Swanenburg, J.
de Kat Angelino-Bart, A.
Schuren, F.
Molenaar, D.
Reid, G.
de Vries, H.
Kort, R.
Publication year
2019
Abstract
Background: A vaginal microbiota dominated by lactobacilli (particularly Lactobacillus crispatus) is associated with vaginal health, whereas a vaginal microbiota not dominated by lactobacilli is considered dysbiotic. Here we investigated whether L. crispatus strains isolated from the vaginal tract of women with Lactobacillus-dominated vaginal microbiota (LVM) are pheno- or genotypically distinct from L. crispatus strains isolated from vaginal samples with dysbiotic vaginal microbiota (DVM). Results: We studied 33 L. crispatus strains (n = 16 from LVM; n = 17 from DVM). Comparison of these two groups of strains showed that, although strain differences existed, both groups degraded various carbohydrates, produced similar amounts of organic acids, inhibited Neisseria gonorrhoeae growth, and did not produce biofilms. Comparative genomics analyses of 28 strains (n = 12 LVM; n = 16 DVM) revealed a novel, 3-fragmented glycosyltransferase gene that was more prevalent among strains isolated from DVM. Most L. crispatus strains showed growth on glycogen-supplemented growth media. Strains that showed less-efficient (n = 6) or no (n = 1) growth on glycogen all carried N-terminal deletions (respectively, 29 and 37 amino acid deletions) in a putative pullulanase type I protein. Discussion: L. crispatus strains isolated from LVM were not phenotypically distinct from L. crispatus strains isolated from DVM; however, the finding that the latter were more likely to carry a 3-fragmented glycosyltransferase gene may indicate a role for cell surface glycoconjugates, which may shape vaginal microbiota-host interactions. Furthermore, the observation that variation in the pullulanase type I gene is associated with growth on glycogen discourages previous claims that L. crispatus cannot directly utilize glycogen. © 2019 The Author(s). CAS galamustine, 105618-02-8, 107811-63-2; glycogen, 9005-79-2; glycosyltransferase, 9033-07-2
Subject
Galamustine
Glycoconjugate
Glycogen
Glycosyltransferase
RNA 16S
Transposase
Amino acid sequence
Bacterial growth
Bacterial strain
Bacterium isolation
Carbohydrate metabolism
Comparative study
Enzyme activity
Female
Fermentation
Gene sequence
Genome analysis
Genomics
Genotype
Glycogen metabolism
Glycosylation
Human
In vivo study
Lactobacillus crispatus
Metagenomics
Neisseria gonorrhoeae
Nonhuman
Nucleotide sequence
Phenotype
RNA sequence
Sexually transmitted disease
Vagina flora
Whole genome sequencing
Healthy for Life
Healthy Living
To reference this document use:
http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:62d6e074-4c40-45b3-9401-bc701f9508b8
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s40168-019-0667-9
TNO identifier
866588
ISSN
2049-2618
Source
Microbiome, 7 (7)
Document type
article