Salmonella Typhimurium has a sweet tooth
A recent Nature Communications paper by the Hardt group (IMB), in collaboration with the Sauer group (IMSB) and the von Mering group (University of Zurich), highlights the essential role of monosaccharides in Salmonella Typhimurium colonization across various murine models with distinct gut microbiomes.
The gut microbiota serves a crucial function in defending against invading pathogens through colonization resistance, a process primarily driven by nutrient competition. Salmonella Typhimurium is a significant cause of diarrheal disease, highlighting the importance of understanding the nutrient sources it utilizes during gut colonization.
To investigate this, the WISH (Wild-type Isogenic Standardized Hybrid) barcode, a neutral genetic tagging system previously established and published in external page Nature Microbiology by the Vorholt, Hardt, and Sunagawa groups (IM), was employed. This approach enabled the simultaneous assessment of 35 distinct S. Typhimurium nutrient utilization mutants across five murine models with varying microbiome complexities, each exhibiting different levels of colonization resistance.
Monosaccharides that consistently contribute to S. Typhimurium colonization, regardless of context, were identified—specifically, D-glucose, D-mannose, and D-fructose, three sugars that are ubiquitous in the human diet. Direct quantification of free monosaccharide content in the gut revealed substantial concentrations, supporting the conclusion that these sugars are readily available and play a critical role in S. Typhimurium colonization.
Link to the paper in external page Nature Communications.