Metagenomic Identification of a Novel Salt Tolerance Gene from the Human Gut Microbiome Which Encodes a Membrane Protein with Homology to a brp/blh-Family beta-Carotene 15,15'-Monooxygenase

Authors

Eamonn P. Culligan, Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland, Department of Biological Sciences, Cork Institute of Technology, Cork, IrelandFollow
Roy D. Sleator, Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland, Department of Biological Sciences, Cork Institute of Technology, Cork, IrelandFollow
Julian R. Marchesi, Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre, Biosciences Institute, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland, Cardiff School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK, Department of Surgery and Cancer, Centre for Digestive and Gut Health, Imperial College London, London, UK
Colin Hill, Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland, School of Microbiology, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland

Document Type

Article

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Disciplines

Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Structural Biology | Biology | Biotechnology | Cell and Developmental Biology | Food Science | Genetics and Genomics | Medicine and Health Sciences | Microbiology | Nutrition | Other Medicine and Health Sciences | Pharmacology, Toxicology and Environmental Health | Physiology | Public Health

Publication Details

PLOS one

Abstract

The human gut microbiome consists of at least 3 million non-redundant genes, 150 times that of the core human genome. Herein, we report the identification and characterisation of a novel stress tolerance gene from the human gut metagenome. The locus, assigned brpA, encodes a membrane protein with homology to a brp/blh-family β-carotene monooxygenase. Cloning and heterologous expression of brpA in Escherichia coli confers a significant salt tolerance phenotype. Furthermore, when cultured in the presence of exogenous β-carotene, cell pellets adopt a red/orange pigmentation indicating the incorporation of carotenoids in the cell membrane.

Recommended Citation

Culligan EP, Sleator RD, Marchesi JR, Hill C (2014) Metagenomic Identification of a Novel Salt Tolerance Gene from the Human Gut Microbiome Which Encodes a Membrane Protein with Homology to a brp/blh-Family β-Carotene 15,15′-Monooxygenase. PLoS ONE 9(7): e103318. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0103318