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Butyrate-producing bacteria are promising probiotic candidates to target microbial dysbiosis in gastrointestinal disorders like inflammatory bowel diseases. Butyricicoccus pullicaecorum 25-3(T), a butyrate-producing clostridial cluster IV strain, is such a candidate. Little is known about its abundance in the colon microbiota and its butyrogenic properties. We used the M-SHIME(®), an in vitro simulator for the human intestinal microbial ecosystem, to study the effect of supplementing a single dose of B. pullicaecorum 25-3(T) on lumen- and mucus-associated microbiota of eight individuals. Butyricicoccus pullicaecorum was more abundant in mucus-associated microbiota compared with lumen microbiota. Supplementation with a single dose of B. pullicaecorum 25-3(T) resulted in a temporary increase in B. pullicaecorum bacteria in lumen compartment of all individuals. In two cases, the responders, an increased butyrate production was observed as compared with the control. 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing revealed the microbiota of responders to be different as compared to non-responder microbiota. We can conclude that B. pullicaecorum 25-3(T) is a mucus-associated bacterium whose potency to stimulate butyrate production is characterized by a large interindividual variability in terms of composition of the receiving microbial community., (© FEMS 2015. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

In vitro coculture fermentations of Bifidobacterium longum BB536 and two acetate-converting, butyrate-producing colon bacteria, Anaerostipes caccae DSM 14662 and Roseburia intestinalis DSM 14610, with oligofructose as the sole energy source, were performed to study interspecies interactions. Two clearly distinct types of cross-feeding were identified. A. caccae DSM 14662 was not able to degrade oligofructose but could grow on the fructose released by B. longum BB536 during oligofructose breakdown. R. intestinalis DSM 14610 could degrade oligofructose, but only after acetate was added to the medium. Detailed kinetic analyses of oligofructose breakdown by the last strain revealed simultaneous degradation of the different chain length fractions, in contrast with the preferential degradation of shorter fractions by B. longum BB536. In a coculture of both strains, initial oligofructose degradation and acetate production by B. longum BB536 took place, which in turn also allowed oligofructose breakdown by R. intestinalis DSM 14610. These and similar cross-feeding mechanisms could play a role in the colon ecosystem and contribute to the combined bifidogenic/butyrogenic effect observed after addition of inulin-type fructans to the diet.

Butyrate-producing bacteria are promising probiotic candidates to target microbial dysbiosis in gastrointestinal disorders like inflammatory bowel diseases. Butyricicoccus pullicaecorum 25-3T, a butyrate-producing clostridial cluster IV strain, is such a candidate. Little is known about its abundance in the colon microbiota and its butyrogenic properties. We used the M-SHIMER® , an in vitro simulator for the human intestinal microbial ecosystem, to study the effect of supplementing a single dose of B. pullicaecorum 25-3T on lumen- and mucus-associated microbiota of eight individuals. Butyricicoccus pullicaecorum was more abundant in mucus-associated microbiota compared with lumen microbiota. Supplementation with a single dose of B. pullicaecorum 25-3T resulted in a temporary increase in B. pullicaecorum bacteria in lumen compartment of all individuals. In two cases, the responders, an increased butyrate production was observed as compared with the control. 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing revealed the microbiota of responders to be different as compared to non-responder microbiota. We can conclude that B. pullicaecorum 25-3T is a mucus-associated bacterium whose potency to stimulate butyrate production is characterized by a large interindividual variability in terms of composition of the receiving microbial community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]