Diversity and dynamics of bacteriocins from human microbiome

Abstract

Human commensal microbiota are an important determinant of health and disease of the host. Different human body sites harbour different bacterial microbiota, bacterial communities that maintain a stable balance. However, many of the factors influencing the stabilities of bacterial communities associated with humans remain unknown. In this study, we identified putative bacteriocins produced by human commensal microbiota. Bacteriocins are peptides or proteins with antimicrobial activity that contribute to the stability and dynamics of microbial communities. We employed bioinformatic analyses to identify putative bacteriocin sequences in metagenomic sequences obtained from different human body sites. Prevailing bacterial taxa of the putative bacteriocins producers matched the most abundant organisms in each human body site. Remarkably, we found that samples from different body sites contain different density of putative bacteriocin genes, with the highest in samples from the vagina, the airway, and the oral cavity and the lowest in those from gut. Inherent differences of different body sites thus influence the density and types of bacteriocins produced by commensal bacteria. Our results suggest that bacteriocins play important roles to allow different bacteria to occupy several human body sites, and to establish a long-term commensal relationship with human hosts.

Modulation of the gut microbiota by prebiotic fibres and bacteriocins

“…bacteriocins, play a role in the competitive exclusion of pathogens, as well as interference competition among the gut microbiota, thereby helping the producers to colonize and establish a niche in the ecosystem [66,67]. In many cases, bacteriocins are better choices than traditional antibiotics because most bacteriocins have narrow-spectrum activity that can be used to remove unwanted bacteria and other pathogens without much disturbance to the commensal flora, in contrast to most antibiotics [68].…”

“…They are produced by a variety of microorganisms, i.e. Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria and some archaea [67]. The bacteriocins produced by Gram-positive bacteria, which are mostly lactic acid bacteria (LAB), are classified into two major groups: class I (lanthionine-containing bacteriocins/lantibiotics) and class II (non-lanthionine-containing bacteriocins) (Figure 1).…”

Probiotic potential of thermotolerant lactic acid bacteria isolated from “Gari “a cassava-based African fermented food

“…This suggests that L. plantarum SB1 and L. acidophilus SB4 can be used not only against intestinal or foodborne pathogenic microorganisms but also against food spoilage bacteria such as Listeria monocytogenes. The inhibitory activity of probiotic bacteria against pathogenic is associated to the production of organic acid or mostly the production of antimicrobial proteins called bacteriocins [18][19][20][21][22][23][24]. For the isolates selected in this study, further studies need to be done in order to characterize and identify the nature of their antimicrobials molecules released during growth.…”

Antifungal activity of lactic acid bacteria of Lactobacillus genus

“…Bakteriocyny są peptydami syntetyzowanymi rybosomalnie, wykazującymi aktywność przeciwdrobnoustrojową [65]. Są związkami o właściwościach kationowych, zbudowanymi z 20 ÷ 50 aminokwasów i składającymi się z dwóch części: hydrofobowej oraz hydrofilowej [49].…”