Milk and mucin glycans orchestrate a synthetic infant gut microbiota structure.

ABSTRACT: Glycans are crucial for infant gut microbiota development. Human milk contains prebiotic human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) that stimulate gut microbes. Simultaneously, the glycan-rich mucus layer develops and attracts mucin glycan-degrading bacteria. As HMOs and mucin are degraded by homologous enzymes, bacterial glycan-degrading abilities overlap. However, less is known about how infant gut microbial communities form when both types of glycans are available. To study this, we created a synthetic community with specialist glycan degraders and cross-feeders from the infant gut (BabyBac). We evaluated it in different in vitro conditions including combinations of diet-derived [HMOs, galactooligosaccharides (GOS), and fructooligosaccharides (FOS)] and mucus glycans. Glycan combinations signif

SUBMITTER: Berkhout MD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12268331 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature