Changes in Bowel Microbiota Induced by Feeding Weanlings Resistant Starch Stimulate Transcriptomic and Physiological Responses

Abstract

<jats:title>ABSTRACT</jats:title><jats:p>The ability to predictably engineer the composition of bowel microbial communities (microbiota) using dietary components is important because of the reported associations of altered microbiota composition with medical conditions. In a synecological study, weanling conventional Sprague-Dawley rats (21 days old) were fed a basal diet (BD) or a diet supplemented with resistant starch (RS) at 5%, 2.5%, or 1.25% for 28 days. Pyrosequencing of 16S rRNA genes and temporal temperature gradient electrophoresis (TTGE) profiles in the colonic digesta showed that rats fed RS had altered microbiota compositions due to blooms of<jats:named-content content-type="genus-species">Bacteroidetes</jats:named-content>and<jats:named-content content-type="genus-species">Actinobacteria</jats:named-content>. The altered microbiota was associated with changes in colonic short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) concentrations, colonic-tissue gene expression (<jats:italic>Gsta2</jats:italic>and<jats:italic>Ela1</jats:italic>), and host physiology (serum metabolite profiles and colonic goblet cell numbers). Comparisons between germ-free and conventional rats showed that transcriptional and serum metabolite differences were mediated by the microbiota and were not the direct result of diet composition. Altered transcriptomic and physiological responses may reflect the young host's attempts to maintain homeostasis as a consequence of exposure to a new collection of bacteria and their associated biochemistry.</jats:p>

Pre- and post-weaning diet alters the faecal metagenome in the cat with differences in vitamin and carbohydrate metabolism gene abundances

“…In general, Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium are recognised as adept carbohydrate utilising bacteria2122, with genomes containing a high number genes encoding a wide range of carbohydrate transport and utilisation functions212324, so their enrichment in the community of kittens fed the kibbled diets is consistent with complex carbohydrate diet studies in other mammalian species25262728. In contrast, kittens fed the canned diet post-weaning had higher relative abundances of bacteria from the Fusobacterium , Bacteroides and Clostridium genera (Table 2), all of which include representatives that have proteolytic activity293031.…”

A Diet High in Resistant Starch Modulates Microbiota Composition, SCFA Concentrations, and Gene Expression in Pig Intestine

“…Currently, most studies focus on the colonic and fecal microbiota (46,47,50), whereas research on the effect of RS on cecal microbiota is limited. This study is the first to our knowledge to use comprehensive microarray-based profiling to detect the RS effect on cecal microbiota in an animal model.…”

The Microbiome and Colorectal Neoplasia: Environmental Modifiers of Dysbiosis

“…When the energy load was reduced to either normal or low levels, the microbiota population was altered and this reduced the overall metabolic activity in the cultures. Young et al [97] suggested that the temporal changes in microbiota and their metabolism resulting from progressive modifications to substrate availability in weanlings also produces shifts in host transcriptional profiles in an attempt to maintain homeostasis.…”