Bacteriocin gene-mediated ecological adaptation of Bifidobacterium breve in the adult human gut
Open accessAbstract
The ecological persistence of Bifidobacterium breve across life stages reflects adaptive strategies beyond the classical infant- versus adult-type dichotomy, historically attributed to differential nutrient utilization. Here, comparative genomics revealed no major differences in shared carbohydrate-related genes or accessory genome content between infant- and adult-derived strains. Instead, a distinct type III lanthipeptide bacteriocin cluster, lanKC, was specifically detected in adult-derived isolates. Functional assays combining gene knockout, in vitro co-cultivation, and human intervention demonstrated that lanKC enhances strain-level competitive fitness and promotes community stability. Phylogenetic and metagenomic analyses of 5,475 lanKC homologs and 6,122 infant gut metagenomes further suggested a possible early-life acquisition via intra-genus horizontal gene transfer. These findings uncover a previously unrecognized genetic basis underlying B. breve adaptation to the gut environment and support a multi-factorial model in which metabolic flexibility and interference competition jointly sustain bifidobacterial persistence and host-microbe symbiosis throughout life.
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Previous studies of B. bifidum and other HBS have focused more on descriptive aspects.
“adds to the results of previous studies, which have focused more on descriptive aspects in B. bifidum [29,104] and other HBS [105-107]”
From Genome-scale insights into the metabolic landscape and evolutionary development of Bifidobacterium bifidum (2026) · cites this paper as [107]
The Discussion (page unavailable) says the authors used a lanKC knockout, fecal fermentation systems, and a human intervention study to test an ecological mechanism in B. breve. The Results also compare wild-type and knockout strains and test the inhibitory effects of their supernatants. That is contrary to characterizing this cited study as focused mainly on descriptive aspects. (LLM, conf=0.86)
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“Although broad-spectrum carbohydrate metabolism, mediated by glycoside hydrolase families such as GH36, 19 has been presumed to underlie its adaptability, our comparative genomic analysis of infant-and adult-derived B . breve strains revealed a high level of conservation in core genome architecture…”
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- Authors
- Wang, J., Qian, X., Li, Q., Jin, Z., Liu, N., Zhao, J., Chen, W., Wang, S., & Tian, P.
- Affiliations
- Jiangnan University (CN)
- Sichuan University (CN)
- Corresponding author
- Wang, Shaopu
- Tian, Peijun
- ORCID
- Wang, Shaopu
- Venue
- Cell Genomics
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2026-04
- Volume
- 6
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 101106
- ISSN
- 2666-979X (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC13069872
- OpenAlex
- W7116078735
- Cited by
- 5
- References
- 49
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5
- FWCI
- 1.49
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Cell Genomics (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China (32394051, 32201988, 82241036)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Gut microbiota and health
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Food Science › Probiotics and Fermented Foods
- Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Infant Nutrition and Health
- Keywords
- Bifidobacterium breve, ecological adaptation, infant gut microbiota, competitive fitness, horizontal gene transfer, host-microbe symbiosis, accessory genome, carbohydrate metabolism
- MeSH terms
- Gastrointestinal Microbiome, Bifidobacterium breve, Adaptation, Physiological, Adult, Bacteriocins, Humans, Infant, Phylogeny, Symbiosis, Gene Transfer, Horizontal
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