@article{0b3f072186b1422b85d5e316fe91efde,
title = "Genetic basis for the cooperative bioactivation of plant lignans by Eggerthella lenta and other human gut bacteria",
abstract = "Plant-derived lignans, consumed daily by most individuals, are thought to protect against cancer and other diseases1; however, their bioactivity requires gut bacterial conversion to enterolignans2. Here, we dissect a four-species bacterial consortium sufficient for all five reactions in this pathway. A single enzyme (benzyl ether reductase, encoded by the gene ber) was sufficient for the first two biotransformations, variable between strains of Eggerthella lenta, critical for enterolignan production in gnotobiotic mice and unique to Coriobacteriia. Transcriptional profiling (RNA sequencing) independently identified ber and genomic loci upregulated by each of the remaining substrates. Despite their low abundance in gut microbiomes and restricted phylogenetic range, all of the identified genes were detectable in the distal gut microbiomes of most individuals living in northern California. Together, these results emphasize the importance of considering strain-level variations and bacterial co-occurrence to gain a mechanistic understanding of the bioactivation of plant secondary metabolites by the human gut microbiome.",
author = "Bess, {Elizabeth N.} and Bisanz, {Jordan E.} and Fauna Yarza and Annamarie Bustion and Rich, {Barry E.} and Xingnan Li and Seiya Kitamura and Emily Waligurski and Ang, {Qi Yan} and Alba, {Diana L.} and Peter Spanogiannopoulos and Stephen Nayfach and Koliwad, {Suneil K.} and Wolan, {Dennis W.} and Franke, {Adrian A.} and Turnbaugh, {Peter J.}",
note = "Funding Information: The authors thank E. Balskus, A. Patterson and K. Pollard for comments on the manuscript. We are indebted to M. Blaut for providing E. lenta SECO-Mt75m2, L. Ortiz de Ora for assistance with generating the control construct for Edl expression, F. Grun, K. Torii and L. Custer for technical assistance with the mass spectrometry assays, and Separation Research (Turku, Finland) for donating chemicals. This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health (R01HL122593 and R21CA227232), Searle Scholars Program (SSP-2016-1352) and University of California, Irvine, Department of Chemistry. P.J.T. is a Chan Zuckerberg Biohub investigator and Nadia{\textquoteright}s Gift Foundation Innovator, supported in part by the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation (DRR-42-16). Fellowship support was provided by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (to J.E.B.), Canadian Institutes of Health and Research (to P.S.), Agency for Technology, Science and Research (to Q.Y.A.), and Life Sciences Research Foundation and Howard Hughes Medical Institute (to E.N.B.). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2019, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.",
year = "2020",
month = jan,
day = "1",
doi = "10.1038/s41564-019-0596-1",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "5",
pages = "56--66",
journal = "Nature Microbiology",
issn = "2058-5276",
publisher = "Nature Publishing Group",
number = "1",
}
