Transcriptome analysis revealed growth phase-associated changes of a centenarian-originated probiotic Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis A6

Abstract

Background The physiology and application characteristics of probiotics are closely associated with the growth phase. Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis A6 is a promising probiotic strain isolated from the feces of a healthy centenarian in China. In this study, RNA-seq was carried out to investigate the metabolic mechanism between the exponential and the stationary phase in B. lactis A6. Results Differential expression analysis showed that a total of 810 genes were significantly changed in the stationary phase compared to the exponential phase, which consisted of 392 up-regulated and 418 down-regulated genes. The results showed that the transport and metabolism of cellobiose, xylooligosaccharides and raffinose were enhanced at the stationary phase, which expanded carbon source utilizing profile to confront with glucose consumption. Meanwhile, genes involved in NH3 production were up-regulated at the stationary phase to enhance acid tolerance during fermentation. In addition, peptidoglycan biosynthesis was significantly repressed, which is comparable with the decreased growth rate during the stationary phase. Remarkably, a putative gene cluster encoding Tad pili was up-regulated 6.5~12.1-fold, which is consistent with the significantly increased adhesion rate to mucin from 2.38–4.90% during the transition from the exponential phase to the stationary phase. Conclusions This study reported growth phase-associated changes of B. lactis A6 during fermentation, including expanded carbon source utilizing profile, enhanced acid tolerance, and up-regulated Tad pili gene cluster responsible for bacterial adhesion in the stationary phase. These findings provide a novel insight into the growth phase associated characteristics in B. lactis A6 and provide valuable information for further application in the food industry.