The genome of gut microbes encodes a collection of enzymes whose metabolic functions contribute to the bioavailability and bioactivity of unabsorbed (poly)phenols. Datasets from high throughput sequencing, metabolome measurements, and other omics have expanded the understanding of the different modes of actions by which (poly)phenols modulate the microbiome conferring health benefits to the host. Progress have been made to identify direct prebiotic effects of (poly)phenols; albeit up to date, these compounds are not recognized as prebiotics sensu stricto. Interestingly, certain probiotics strains have an enzymatic repertoire, such as tannase, α-L-rhamnosidase, and phenolic acid reductase, involved in the transformation of different (poly)phenols into bioactive phenolic metabolites. In vivo studies have demonstrated that these (poly)phenol-transforming bacteria thrive when provided with phenolic substrates. However, other taxonomically distinct gut symbionts of which a phenolic-metabolizing activity has not been demonstrated are still significantly promoted by (poly)phenols. This is the case of Akkermansia muciniphila, a so-called antiobesity bacterium, which responds positively to (poly)phenols and may be partially responsible for the health benefits formerly attributed to these molecules. We surmise that (poly)phenols broad antimicrobial action free ecological niches occupied by competing bacteria, thereby allowing the bloom of beneficial gut bacteria. This review explores the capacity of (poly)phenols to promote beneficial gut bacteria through their direct and collaborative bacterial utilization and their inhibitory action on potential pathogenic species. We propose the term duplibiotic, to describe an unabsorbed substrate modulating the gut microbiota by both antimicrobial and prebiotic modes of action. (Poly)phenol duplibiotic effect could participate in blunting metabolic disturbance and gut dysbiosis, positioning these compounds as dietary strategies with therapeutic potential.

Trillions of microorganisms inhabit the human body, strongly colonizing the gastro-intestinal tract and outnumbering our own cells. High-throughput sequencing techniques and new bioinformatic tools have enabled scientists to extend our knowledge on the relationship between the gut microbiota and host's physiology. Disruption of the ecological equilibrium in the gut (i.e., dysbiosis) has been associated with several pathological processes, including obesity and its related comorbidities, with diet being a strong determinant of gut microbial balance. In this review, we discuss the potential prebiotic effect of polyphenol-rich foods and extracts and how they can reshape the gut microbiota, emphasizing the novel role of the mucin-degrading bacterium Akkermansia muciniphila in their metabolic benefits.

Berries are rich in polyphenols and plant cell wall polysaccharides (fibers), including cellulose, hemicellulose, arabinans and arabino-xyloglucans rich pectin. Most of polyphenols and fibers are known to be poorly absorbed in the small intestine and reach the colon where they interact with the gut microbiota, conferring health benefits to the host. This study assessed the contribution of polyphenol-rich whole cranberry and blueberry fruit powders (CP and BP), and that of their fibrous fractions (CF and BF) on modulating the gut microbiota, the microbial functional profile and influencing metabolic disorders induced by high-fat high-sucrose (HFHS) diet for 8 weeks. Lean mice-associated taxa, including Akkermansia muciniphila, Dubosiella newyorkensis, and Angelakisella, were selectively induced by diet supplementation with polyphenol-rich CP and BP. Fiber-rich CF also triggered polyphenols-degrading families Coriobacteriaceae and Eggerthellaceae. Diet supplementation with polyphenol-rich CP, but not with its fiber-rich CF, reduced fat mass depots, body weight and energy efficiency in HFHSfed mice. However, CF reduced liver triglycerides in HFHS-fed mice. Importantly, polyphenol-rich CP-diet normalized microbial functions to a level comparable to that of Chow-fed controls. Using multivariate association modeling, taxa and predicted functions distinguishing an obese phenotype from healthy controls and berry-treated mice were identified. The enterotype-like clustering analysis underlined the link between a long-term diet intake and the functional stratification of the gut microbiota. The supplementation of a HFHS-diet with polyphenol-rich CP drove mice gut microbiota from Firmicutes/Ruminococcus enterotype into an enterotype linked to healthier host status, which is Prevotella/Akkermansiaceae. This study highlights the prebiotic role of polyphenols, and their contribution to the compositional and functional modulation of the gut microbiota, counteracting obesity.

Winterkill is recurrently observed on annual bluegrass (Poa annua L.) golf greens in northern climates. Although annual bluegrass susceptibility to freezing temperatures has been pointed out as a major factor responsible for winter damages, little information exists on freezing tolerance and cold hardening of green‐type annual bluegrass. This study was conducted to assess freezing tolerance and carbohydrate changes occurring during cold acclimation of green‐type annual bluegrass ecotypes cold hardened under both environmentally controlled and simulated winter conditions in an unheated greenhouse. The 50% killing temperatures (LT50), levels of fructans, and mono and disaccharides were determined during cold acclimation in three annual bluegrass ecotypes originating from Western Pennsylvania (OK), Coastal Maryland (CO) and Central Québec (CR). The ecotypes differed significantly with regard to their freezing tolerance (LT50 ranking: OK < CO < CR) and maintained their relative ranking under both environmentally controlled and simulated‐natural winter conditions. Maximum freezing tolerance was observed after exposure to nonlethal subfreezing temperatures and annual bluegrass achieved high levels of freezing tolerance with LT50 of −31.2°C for OK, −24.6°C for CO, and −22.8°C for CR. High molecular weight fructans (DP>6) were the most abundant carbohydrates found in plants cold‐acclimated under low, nonfreezing temperature with levels up to 170 mg g−1 dry weight as compared with 60 to 70 mg g−1 dry weight in nonacclimated plants. Sucrose levels in crowns of annual bluegrass markedly increased at temperatures below freezing and maximum sucrose concentration coincided with maximum freezing tolerance of annual bluegrass. However, variations in fructan and sucrose levels were not related to differential freezing tolerance among the three annual bluegrass ecotypes tested.

Lifestyle factors, especially diet and nutrition, are currently regarded as essential avenues to decrease modern-day cardiometabolic disorders (CMD), including obesity, metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, and atherosclerosis. Many groups around the world attribute these trends, at least partially, to bioactive plant polyphenols given their anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory actions. In fact, polyphenols can prevent or reverse the progression of disease processes through many distinct mechanisms. In particular, the crosstalk between polyphenols and gut microbiota, recently unveiled thanks to DNA-based tools and next generation sequencing, unravelled the central regulatory role of dietary polyphenols and their intestinal micro-ecology metabolites on the host energy metabolism and related illnesses. The objectives of this review are to: (1) provide an understanding of classification, structure, and bioavailability of dietary polyphenols; (2) underline their metabolism by gut microbiota; (3) highlight their prebiotic effects on microflora; (4) discuss the multifaceted roles of their metabolites in CMD while shedding light on the mechanisms of action; and (5) underscore their ability to initiate host epigenetic regulation. In sum, the review clearly documents whether dietary polyphenols and micro-ecology favorably interact to promote multiple physiological functions on human organism.

Blueberry consumption can prevent obesity-linked metabolic diseases, and it has been proposed that the polyphenol content of blueberries may contribute to these effects. Polyphenols have been shown to favorably impact metabolic health, but the role of specific polyphenol classes and whether the gut microbiota is linked to these effects remain unclear. We aimed to evaluate the impact of whole blueberry powder and blueberry polyphenols on the development of obesity and insulin resistance and to determine the potential role of gut microbes in these effects by using fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT). Sixty-eight C57BL/6 male mice were assigned to one of the following diets for 12 wk: balanced diet (Chow); high-fat, high-sucrose diet (HFHS); or HFHS supplemented with whole blueberry powder (BB), anthocyanidin (ANT)-rich extract, or proanthocyanidin (PAC)-rich extract. After 8 wk, mice were housed in metabolic cages, and an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) was performed. Sixty germ-free mice fed HFHS diet received FMT from one of the above groups biweekly for 8 wk, followed by an OGTT. PAC-treated mice were leaner than HFHS controls although they had the same energy intake and were more physically active. This observation was reproduced in germ-free mice receiving FMT from PAC-treated mice. PAC- and ANT-treated mice showed improved insulin responses during OGTT, and this finding was also reproduced in germ-free mice following FMT. These results show that blueberry PAC and ANT polyphenols can reduce diet-induced body weight and improve insulin sensitivity and that at least part of these beneficial effects are explained by modulation of the gut microbiota.

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nual bluegrass culture on golf course greens in areas experiencing harsh winter conditions. Temperature fluc-Cold acclimation is associated with many metabolic changes that tuations and extreme freezing temperatures at crown lead to increase freezing tolerance. This study was conducted to assess level, occurring during winter and early spring, cause amino acid and protein changes occurring during cold acclimation of green-type annual bluegrass ecotypes cold hardened under both recurrent losses of annual bluegrass on golf greens (Dienvironmentally controlled and simulated-winter conditions in an unonne et al., 1999). Susceptibility of annual bluegrass to heated greenhouse. These biochemical changes were monitored in subfreezing temperatures has been pointed out as a three ecotypes of contrasting freezing tolerance originating from major factor responsible for winter damages on golf Western Pennsylvania (OK), Coastal Maryland (CO), and central greens. In a recent study, we determined that marked Qué bec (CR). Cold hardening induced major changes in amino acid differences in freezing tolerance exist among annual levels in overwintering crowns of the three ecotypes and the highest bluegrass ecotypes (Dionne et al., 2001). Maximum contributions to total amino acid accumulation after acclimation at freezing tolerance was observed after exposure to nonlesubfreezing temperatures came from proline, glutamine, and glutamic thal subfreezing temperatures. acid. Higher levels of amino acid and greater differences among eco-Cold acclimation of a plant is a highly active process types were observed after acclimation at subzero temperatures. Amino acid levels, including proline, were not related to the differential resulting from the expression of a number of physiologifreezing tolerance among the three annual bluegrass ecotypes tested. cal and metabolic adaptations to low temperature (Levitt, Specific soluble polypeptides and thermostable proteins showed cold 1980). Major metabolic changes have been documented responsiveness and in some cases, their peak accumulation coincided during the acquisition of cold tolerance including changes with maximum freezing tolerance of annual bluegrass. In plants hardin carbohydrates, proteins, nucleic acids, amino acids, ened to winter conditions in a unheated greenhouse, there was a growth regulators, phospholipids, and fatty acids (Li, distinct accumulation of polypeptides from fall until midwinter with 1984). Relationships between carbohydrate levels and a subsequent decrease in the spring.