Cited by 7Gut microbiota and healthProbiotics and Fermented FoodsBacterial Genetics and Biotechnology

The role of teichoic acids of bifidobacteria in driving the interaction with the human host

Open access
Longhi, Giulia, Vergna, Laura Maria, Lugli, Gabriele Andrea, Bianchi, Massimiliano Giovanni, Tarracchini, Chiara, Milani, Christian, Turroni, Francesca, Bussolati, Ovidio +2 more·2025·Frontiers in Microbiology

Abstract

An in silico survey carried out in this study, performed on more than 3,000 publicly available bifidobacterial genome sequences, revealed clear differences in genes predicted to be involved in teichoic acid (TA) biosynthesis at inter-species level, indicating that only a small number of species possess a specific cluster for the production and assembly of these cell envelope-associated structures. Among these, Bifidobacterium bifidum represents a key member of the human gut microbiota at the early stages of life. Here, we show differences in the transcriptomic profiles of genes predicted to be involved in TA biosynthesis of three different strains of B. bifidum PRL2010 following exposure to human intestinal epithelial cells, suggesting a strain-specific and host-mediated molecular response. Notably, such data were further corroborated by in vitro experiments with isogenic derivatives of B. bifidum PRL2010 carrying mutations located in one of the genetic loci putatively responsible for TA synthesis, which suggests that TAs of PRL2010 are involved in establishing microbe-host cross talk by modulating adhesion to epithelial intestinal cells, as well as by affecting the interaction with human macrophages. We furthermore revealed that some of the key genes implicated in TA synthesis by PRL2010 are overexpressed under in vivo conditions when the microorganism is colonizing the murine gut, which further confirms a host modulatory effect on the production of these extracellular structures in bifidobacteria.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.3389/fmicb.2025.1616397

Cites

90 of 90 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • These functions support survival in the infant gut.

    “Specifically, 25 unique COGs are implicated in the import and processing of human milk sugars [84] , while others are associated with host-immune interactions [85] and osmotic and pH regulation [86] , i.e., functions that support survival in the infant gut [23,87,88] .”

    From Genome-scale insights into the metabolic landscape and evolutionary development of Bifidobacterium bifidum (2026) · cites this paper as [23]

    The Introduction (page unavailable) links carbohydrate-metabolism genes and host-interacting surface structures to bifidobacterial colonization and persistence in the intestine. The Conclusion (page unavailable) also links teichoic-acid-mediated immune interactions to persistence in the human gut. These passages support the general survival point, but do not establish that osmotic and pH regulation support survival specifically in the infant gut. (LLM, conf=0.82)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Longhi, G., Vergna, L. M., Lugli, G. A., Bianchi, M. G., Tarracchini, C., Milani, C., Turroni, F., Bussolati, O., van Sinderen, D., & Ventura, M.
Affiliations
University of Parma (IT)
Corresponding author
Ventura, Marco
Venue
Frontiers in Microbiology
Published
2025-07-10
Volume
16
Pages
1616397-1616397
ISSN
1664-302X (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W4412141588
Cited by
6
References
90
Citations by year
2026: 6
FWCI
1.80
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Frontiers in Microbiology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Funders
  • Science Foundation Ireland (SFI/12/RC/2273‐412‐P1, SFI/12/RC/, 12/RC/2273, SFI/12/RC/ 2273_P2, 12/RC/, 12/RC/2273_P2, SFI/12/RC/2273.)
  • Università degli Studi di Parma
  • APC Microbiome Institute (SFI/12/RC/2273_P2, SFI/12/RC/2273)
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
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Bacterial Genetics and Biotechnology
Keywords
teichoic acid, Bifidobacterium, Bifidobacterium bifidum, teichoic acid biosynthesis, gut microbiota, host-microbe interactions, intestinal epithelial cell adhesion, macrophage interaction, strain-specific gene expression, isogenic mutants

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review