Resilience of small intestinal beneficial bacteria to the toxicity of soybean oil fatty acids
- Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology, Germany
- Cornell University, United States
- Baylor College of Medicine, United States
- University of Alberta, Canada
Abstract
Over the past century, soybean oil (SBO) consumption in the United States increased dramatically. The main SBO fatty acid, linoleic acid (18:2), inhibits in vitro the growth of lactobacilli, beneficial members of the small intestinal microbiota. Human-associated lactobacilli have declined in prevalence in Western microbiomes, but how dietary changes may have impacted their ecology is unclear. Here, we compared the in vitro and in vivo effects of 18:2 on Lactobacillus reuteri and L. johnsonii. Directed evolution in vitro in both species led to strong 18:2 resistance with mutations in genes for lipid biosynthesis, acid stress, and the cell membrane or wall. Small-intestinal Lactobacillus populations in mice were unaffected by chronic and acute 18:2 exposure, yet harbored both 18:2- sensitive and resistant strains. This work shows that extant small intestinal lactobacilli are protected from toxic dietary components via the gut environment as well as their own capacity to evolve resistance.
Article and author information
Author details
Funding
NIH Office of the Director (DP2OD007444)
- Ruth Emily Ley
Life Sciences Research Foundation (Eli & Edythe Broad Fellow)
- Ruth Emily Ley
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft (Open-access funding)
- Ruth Emily Ley
The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.
Ethics
Animal experimentation: All animal experimental procedures were reviewed and approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Usage Committee of Cornell University protocol 2010-0065.
Copyright
© 2018, Di Rienzi et al.
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.
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Resilience of small intestinal beneficial bacteria to the toxicity of soybean oil fatty acids
eLife 7:e32581.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.32581
Further reading
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The microbiome protects beneficial gut bacteria from toxic substances in our diet.
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Saprolegnia parasitica is one of the most virulent oomycete species in freshwater aquatic environments, causing severe saprolegniasis and leading to significant economic losses in the aquaculture industry. Thus far, the prevention and control of saprolegniasis face a shortage of medications. Linalool, a natural antibiotic alternative found in various essential oils, exhibits promising antimicrobial activity against a wide range of pathogens. In this study, the specific role of linalool in protecting S. parasitica infection at both in vitro and in vivo levels was investigated. Linalool showed multifaceted anti-oomycetes potential by both of antimicrobial efficacy and immunomodulatory efficacy. For in vitro test, linalool exhibited strong anti-oomycetes activity and mode of action included: (1) Linalool disrupted the cell membrane of the mycelium, causing the intracellular components leak out; (2) Linalool prohibited ribosome function, thereby inhibiting protein synthesis and ultimately affecting mycelium growth. Surprisingly, meanwhile we found the potential immune protective mechanism of linalool in the in vivo test: (1) Linalool enhanced the complement and coagulation system which in turn activated host immune defense and lysate S. parasitica cells; (2) Linalool promoted wound healing, tissue repair, and phagocytosis to cope with S. parasitica infection; (3) Linalool positively modulated the immune response by increasing the abundance of beneficial Actinobacteriota; (4) Linalool stimulated the production of inflammatory cytokines and chemokines to lyse S. parasitica cells. In all, our findings showed that linalool possessed multifaceted anti-oomycetes potential which would be a promising natural antibiotic alternative to cope with S. parasitica infection in the aquaculture industry.
