Glycoprofiling of bifidobacterial consumption of human milk oligosaccharides demonstrates strain specific, preferential consumption of small chain glycans secreted in early human lactation
Abstract
The molecular basis by which human breast milk supports the development of a protective intestinal microbiome in infants is unknown. After lactose and lipids, human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) are quantitatively the third largest and most diverse component of breast milk. In this work, glycomic profiling of HMO consumption by bifidobacteria using Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry reveals that one species, Bifidobacterium longum biovar infantis ATCC 15697, an isolate from the infant gut, preferentially consumes small mass oligosaccharides, representing 63.9% of the total HMOs available. These HMOs were detected in human breast milk at the onset and constantly through the first month of lactation by use of high performance liquid chromatography-chip time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Further characterization revealed that strain ATCC 15697 possesses both fucosidase and sialidase activities not present in the other tested strains. This work provides evidence that these small mass HMOs are selectively metabolized by select bifidobacterial strains and represent a potential new class of bioactive molecules functioning as prebiotics to facilitate a protective gut colonization in breast-fed newborns.
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Select strains of Bifidobacteria possess specialized enzymes capable of metabolizing human milk oligosaccharide glycans.
“Recent studies have shown that select strains of Bifidobacteria possess specialized enzymes capable of metabolizing MOS glycans15-17.”
From Diet and the Intestinal Microbiome: Associations, Functions, and Implications for Health and Disease (2014) · cites this paper as [15]
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Self-citation
- Authors
- LoCascio, R. G., Ninonuevo, M. R., Freeman, S. L., Sela, D. A., Grimm, R., Lebrilla, C. B., Mills, D. A., & German, J. B.
- Affiliations
- Agilent Technologies (United States) (US)
- Departments of Viticulture & Enology, Chemistry, and Food Science & Technology and Microbiology Graduate Group, University of California––Davis, Davis, California 95616, and Agilent Technologies Inc., Santa Clara, California 95052
- Corresponding author
- German, J. Bruce
- Venue
- Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry
- Publisher
- American Chemical Society (ACS)
- Published
- 2007-10-01
- Volume
- 55
- Issue
- 22
- Pages
- 8914-8919
- ISSN
- 0021-8561 (ISSN-L)
- 1520-5118
- OpenAlex
- W2073692430
- Cited by
- 365
- References
- 21
- Citations by year
- 2026: 9 · 2025: 13 · 2024: 22 · 2023: 14 · 2022: 21 · 2021: 27 · 2020: 28 · 2019: 19 · 2018: 25 · 2017: 22 · 2016: 22 · 2015: 20 · 2014: 22 · 2013: 21 · 2012: 21
- FWCI
- 11.45
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- HAL (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute of General Medical Sciences (T32GM008799, T32GM08799)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Infant Nutrition and Health
- Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Microbial Metabolites in Food Biotechnology
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Gut microbiota and health
- Keywords
- human milk oligosaccharides, Bifidobacterium, Bifidobacterium longum subsp. infantis, glycan profiling, prebiotics, fucosidase, neuraminidase, early lactation, infant gut colonization, breast milk, oligosaccharide metabolism
- MeSH terms
- Bifidobacterium, Female, Humans, Lactation, Milk, Human, Oligosaccharides, Polysaccharides, Species Specificity, Time Factors
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