Complex Glycan Catabolism by the Human Gut Microbiota: The Bacteroidetes Sus-like Paradigm

作者：Eric C. Martens, Nicole M. Koropatkin, Thomas J. Smith, Jeffrey I. Gordon · 发表于：Journal of Biological Chemistry · 年份：2009 · DOI：10.1074/jbc.r109.022848 · 被引用次数：680 · 研究领域：Probiotics and Fermented Foods、Gut microbiota and health、Genomics and Phylogenetic Studies

Trillions of microbes inhabit the distal gut of adult humans. They have evolved to compete efficiently for nutrients, including a wide array of chemically diverse, complex glycans present in our diets, secreted by our intestinal mucosa, and displayed on the surfaces of other gut microbes. Here, we review how members of the Bacteroidetes, one of two dominant gut-associated bacterial phyla, process complex glycans using a series of similarly patterned, cell envelope-associated multiprotein systems. These systems provide insights into how gut, as well as terrestrial and aquatic, Bacteroidetes survive in highly competitive ecosystems.