TY - JOUR
T1 - Biomass utilization by gut microbiomes
AU - White, Bryan A.
AU - Lamed, Raphael
AU - Bayer, Edward A.
AU - Flint, Harry J.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2014 by Annual Reviews. All rights reserved.
PY - 2014/9/8
Y1 - 2014/9/8
N2 - Mammals rely entirely on symbiotic microorganisms within their digestive tract to gain energy from plant biomass that is resistant to mammalian digestive enzymes. Especially in herbivorous animals, specialized organs (the rumen, cecum, and colon) have evolved that allow highly efficient fermentation of ingested plant biomass by complex anaerobic microbial communities. We consider here the two most intensively studied, representative gut microbial communities involved in degradation of plant fiber: those of the rumen and the human large intestine. These communities are dominated by bacteria belonging to the Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes phyla. In Firmicutes, degradative capacity is largely restricted to the cell surface and involves elaborate cellulosome complexes in specialized cellulolytic species. By contrast, in the Bacteroidetes, utilization of soluble polysaccharides, encoded by gene clusters (PULs), entails outer membrane binding proteins, and degradation is largely periplasmic or intracellular. Biomass degradation involves complex interplay between these distinct groups of bacteria as well as (in the rumen) eukaryotic microorganisms.
AB - Mammals rely entirely on symbiotic microorganisms within their digestive tract to gain energy from plant biomass that is resistant to mammalian digestive enzymes. Especially in herbivorous animals, specialized organs (the rumen, cecum, and colon) have evolved that allow highly efficient fermentation of ingested plant biomass by complex anaerobic microbial communities. We consider here the two most intensively studied, representative gut microbial communities involved in degradation of plant fiber: those of the rumen and the human large intestine. These communities are dominated by bacteria belonging to the Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes phyla. In Firmicutes, degradative capacity is largely restricted to the cell surface and involves elaborate cellulosome complexes in specialized cellulolytic species. By contrast, in the Bacteroidetes, utilization of soluble polysaccharides, encoded by gene clusters (PULs), entails outer membrane binding proteins, and degradation is largely periplasmic or intracellular. Biomass degradation involves complex interplay between these distinct groups of bacteria as well as (in the rumen) eukaryotic microorganisms.
KW - Carbohydrate-active enzymes (CAZymes)
KW - Carbohydrate-binding module (CBM)
KW - Cohesin
KW - Dockerin
KW - Glycoside hydrolases
KW - Polysaccharide utilization loci (PULs)
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UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84907228460&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1146/annurev-micro-092412-155618
DO - 10.1146/annurev-micro-092412-155618
M3 - Review article
C2 - 25002092
AN - SCOPUS:84907228460
SN - 0066-4227
VL - 68
SP - 279
EP - 296
JO - Annual review of microbiology
JF - Annual review of microbiology
ER -