Functional metagenomics to decipher food-microbe-host crosstalk

Area of Science:

• Microbiology
• Molecular Biology
• Systems Biology

Background:

• Metagenomics offers high-resolution molecular insights into the intestinal microbiota.
• Large-scale studies like EU MetaHIT provide unprecedented views of microbial communities.
• Functional metagenomics explores interactions between food, microbiota, and host.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore fine interactions between food constituents, microbiota, and host.
• To identify novel bioactive compounds and mechanisms of microbial crosstalk.
• To understand how commensal bacteria and probiotics modulate host cell activity.

Main Methods:

• Cloning large genome fragments from intestinal communities and bacteria.
• Screening biological resources for bioactivity towards plant polymers and prebiotics.
• Exposing genomic and metagenomic clones to engineered human cells to track immune, proliferation, and metabolic responses.

Main Results:

• Identification of novel carbohydrate-active enzyme families involved in dietary fiber breakdown.
• Discovery of previously unrecognized bacterial players in the intestinal microbial food chain.
• Identification of bioactive clones modulating key cell signaling pathways and gene induction.

Conclusions:

• Functional metagenomics enables exploration of food-microbe-host crosstalk despite challenges in culturing microbes.
• This approach opens new avenues for understanding microbial modulation of host physiology.
• Potential for identifying novel probiotics and therapeutic targets for clinical applications.