High arabinoxylan fine structure specificity to gut bacteria driven by corn genotypes but not environment

Xiaowei Zhang; Jianhua Xie; Tingting Chen; Dongdong Ma; Tianming Yao; Fangting Gu; Jongbin Lim; Mitchell R Tuinstra; Bruce R Hamaker

doi:10.1016/j.carbpol.2021.117667

High arabinoxylan fine structure specificity to gut bacteria driven by corn genotypes but not environment

Carbohydr Polym. 2021 Apr 1:257:117667. doi: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2021.117667. Epub 2021 Jan 16.

Authors

Xiaowei Zhang¹, Jianhua Xie², Tingting Chen², Dongdong Ma³, Tianming Yao⁴, Fangting Gu⁵, Jongbin Lim⁴, Mitchell R Tuinstra⁶, Bruce R Hamaker⁷

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Food and Nutraceutical Science, School of Agriculture and Biology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240, China; Whistler Center for Carbohydrate Research and Department of Food Science, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA.
² Whistler Center for Carbohydrate Research and Department of Food Science, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA; State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, School of Food Science and Technology, Nanchang University, Nanchang, 330047, China.
³ Whistler Center for Carbohydrate Research and Department of Food Science, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA; Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA.
⁴ Whistler Center for Carbohydrate Research and Department of Food Science, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA.
⁵ Whistler Center for Carbohydrate Research and Department of Food Science, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA; Key Laboratory of Plant Functional Genomics of the Ministry of Education, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics and Physiology, College of Agriculture, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, 225009, China.
⁶ Institute for Plant Sciences, Department of Agronomy, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA.
⁷ Whistler Center for Carbohydrate Research and Department of Food Science, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA. Electronic address: hamakerb@purdue.edu.

PMID: 33541670
DOI: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2021.117667

Abstract

While gut bacteria have different abilities to utilize dietary fibers, the degree of fiber structural alignment to bacteria species is not well understood. Corn bran arabinoxylan (CAX) was used to investigate how minor polymer fine structural differences at the genotype × environment level influences the human gut microbiota. CAXs were extracted from 4 corn genotypes × 3 growing years and used in in vitro fecal fermentations. CAXs from different genotypes had varied contents of arabinose/xylose ratio (0.46-0.54), galactose (58-101 mg/g), glucuronic acid (18-32 mg/g). There was genotype- but not environment-specific differences in fine structures. After 24 h fermentation, CAX showed different acetate (71-86 mM), propionate (35-44 mM), butyrate (7-10 mM), and total short chain fatty acid (SCFA) (117-137 mM) production. SCFA profiles and gut microbiota both shifted in a genotype-specific way. In conclusion, the study reveals a very high specificity of fiber structure to gut bacteria use and SCFA production.

Keywords: Arabinoxylan; Environment; Genotype; Gut microbiota; Structure.

MeSH terms

Acetates / chemistry
Arabinose / chemistry
Butyrates / chemistry
Dietary Fiber / analysis
Fatty Acids, Volatile / chemistry
Feces
Fermentation
Galactose / chemistry
Gastrointestinal Microbiome / drug effects*
Genotype
Glucuronic Acid / chemistry
Humans
Polymers / chemistry
Propionates / chemistry
Xylans / chemistry*
Xylose / chemistry
Zea mays / genetics*

Substances

Acetates
Butyrates
Dietary Fiber
Fatty Acids, Volatile
Polymers
Propionates
Xylans
Glucuronic Acid
arabinoxylan
Xylose
Arabinose
Galactose