dbCAN-PUL

PUL ID	PUL0464
PubMed	18996345, Cell Host Microbe. 2008 Nov 13;4(5):447-57. doi: 10.1016/j.chom.2008.09.007.
Characterization method	microarray,qPCR
Genomic accession number	AE015928.1
Nucelotide position range	541795-572833
Substrate	host glycan
Loci	BT0446-BT0461
Species	Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron/818
Degradation or Biosynthesis	degradation

PUL ID	PUL0464
PubMed	18996345, Cell Host Microbe. 2008 Nov 13;4(5):447-57. doi: 10.1016/j.chom.2008.09.007.
Title	Mucosal glycan foraging enhances fitness and transmission of a saccharolytic human gut bacterial symbiont.
Author	Martens EC, Chiang HC, Gordon JI
Abstract	The distal human gut is a microbial bioreactor that digests complex carbohydrates. The strategies evolved by gut microbes to sense and process diverse glycans have important implications for the assembly and operation of this ecosystem. The human gut-derived bacterium Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron forages on both host and dietary glycans. Its ability to target these substrates resides in 88 polysaccharide utilization loci (PULs), encompassing 18% of its genome. Whole genome transcriptional profiling and genetic tests were used to define the mechanisms underlying host glycan foraging in vivo and in vitro. PULs that target all major classes of host glycans were identified. However, mucin O-glycans are the principal host substrate foraged in vivo. Simultaneous deletion of five genes encoding ECF-sigma transcription factors, which activate mucin O-glycan utilization, produces defects in bacterial persistence in the gut and in mother-to-offspring transmission. Thus, PUL-mediated glycan catabolism is an important component in gut colonization and may impact microbiota ecology.