This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Microbiologists have found that an enzyme not normally associated with microbial activities in the human gut has a role in how some bacteria access key nutrients in breast milk. The findings, published in Nature Communications on Nov. 2, provide a new understanding of the feeding preferences of bacteria that are important for a typical infant gut microbiota.
The enzyme, PNGaseA, is usually used in other processes in animals and plants, such as recycling important cell components. However, in this instance, Dr. Lucy Crouch and the team have found that the enzyme has a key role in enabling bacteria to feed on particular types of sugars in breast milk.
These, alongside other sugars, are believed to stimulate the growth of infant-associated species of Bifidobacterium. Some types of Bifidobacterium produce this enzyme to feed on these special nutrients, which are sugars found on short protein chains. The sugars need to be removed from the chains so that they can be available as food.
The characterization of the PNGaseA enzyme has also helped the team of researchers identify how important some understudied nutrients are for feeding a healthy microbiome. The team found that the PNGaseA enzyme, produced by some species of Bifidobacterium, accesses only sugars found on short protein chains. These nutrients are in human breast milk but not in infant formula.
Crouch, from the University of Birmingham and lead author of the study, said, "This exciting finding shows just how complex the human milk-fed infant microbial community is. We were genuinely surprised to see that PNGaseA is used by gut bacteria to access nutrients and potentially contribute to the growth of a healthy community. "We know there are some aspects of breast milk that can't yet be truly synthetically replicated as ingredients for infant formula.
Characterizing all of the components that help 'healthy' bacteria to form can help to find solutions to making formula as much like human milk as possible and give the natural infant gut microbiomes everything they need to establish and thrive." Ramón Hurtado-Guerrero, a professor at the University of Zaragoza and a co-author of the study, said, "This study also reveals the first structure of a PNGase enzyme bound to an N-glycopeptide, showing how it recognizes both the sugar and the attached protein fragment. In addition, it offers clues to how other PNGases, including PNGaseF and other PNGaseA enzymes, might recognize their targets." This first characterization of how a PNGaseA enzyme unlocks particular nutrients in breast milk, along with subsequent research, will help advance our understanding of how breast milk drives the formation of a healthy infant microbial community. The resulting findings can help to engineer future formulas so that babies who don't have access to human breast milk may benefit from the development of prebiotics.
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