Nature Communications 2015-01-01

Discovery of intramolecular trans-sialidases in human gut microbiota suggests novel mechanisms of mucosal adaptation.

Louise E Tailford, C David Owen, John Walshaw, Emmanuelle H Crost, Jemma Hardy-Goddard, Gwenaelle Le Gall, Willem M de Vos, Garry L Taylor, Nathalie Juge

Index: Nat. Commun. 6 , 7624, (2015)

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Abstract

The gastrointestinal mucus layer is colonized by a dense community of microbes catabolizing dietary and host carbohydrates during their expansion in the gut. Alterations in mucosal carbohydrate availability impact on the composition of microbial species. Ruminococcus gnavus is a commensal anaerobe present in the gastrointestinal tract of >90% of humans and overrepresented in inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). Using a combination of genomics, enzymology and crystallography, we show that the mucin-degrader R. gnavus ATCC 29149 strain produces an intramolecular trans-sialidase (IT-sialidase) that cleaves off terminal α2-3-linked sialic acid from glycoproteins, releasing 2,7-anhydro-Neu5Ac instead of sialic acid. Evidence of IT-sialidases in human metagenomes indicates that this enzyme occurs in healthy subjects but is more prevalent in IBD metagenomes. Our results uncover a previously unrecognized enzymatic activity in the gut microbiota, which may contribute to the adaptation of intestinal bacteria to the mucosal environment in health and disease.