Substrate-driven gene expression in Roseburia inulinivorans: Importance of inducible enzymes in the utilization of inulin and starch

Roseburia inulinivorans is a recently identified motile representative of the Firmicutes that contributes to butyrate formation from a variety of dietary polysaccharide substrates in the human large intestine. Microarray analysis was used here to investigate substrate-driven gene-expression changes in R. inulinivorans A2-194. A cluster of fructo-oligosaccharide/inulin utilization genes induced during growth on inulin included one encoding a beta-fructofuranosidase protein that was prominent in the proteome of inulin-grown cells. This cluster also included a 6-phosphofructokinase and an ABC transport system, whereas a distinct inulin-induced 1-phosphofructokinase was linked to a fructose-specific phosphoenolpyruvate-dependent sugar phosphotransferase system (PTS II transport enzyme). Real-time PCR analysis showed that the beta-fructofuranosidase and adjacent ABC transport protein showed greatest induction during growth on inulin, whereas the 1-phosphofructokinase enzyme and linked sugar phosphotransferase transport system were most strongly up-regulated during growth on fructose, indicating that these two clusters play distinct roles in the use of inulin. The R. inulinivorans beta-fructofuranosidase was overexpressed in Escherichia coli and shown to hydrolyze fructans ranging from inulin down to sucrose, with greatest activity on fructo-oligosaccharides. Genes induced on starch included the major extracellular a-amylase and two distinct alpha-glucanotransferases together with a gene encoding a flagellin protein. The latter response may be concerned with improving bacterial access to insoluble starch particles.