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Bacteroides-Methanobrevibacter Gnotobiotic Mouse Mutualism

Community ID CommunityMech:000142
Ecological State ENGINEERED
Environment gnotobiotic mouse gut environment
ENVO:0001998

A defined host-associated gnotobiotic mouse community used to test archaeal-bacterial mutualism in the gut. Germ-free mice were colonized with Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron with or without Methanobrevibacter smithii or Desulfovibrio piger, revealing a specific interaction in which M. smithii redirects B. thetaiotaomicron toward dietary fructan fermentation to acetate while using B. thetaiotaomicron formate for methanogenesis.

Taxonomy

Taxon Ontology ID Functional Roles Abundance
Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron NCBITaxon:818
PRIMARY_DEGRADER CROSS_FEEDER
N/A
  • PMID:16782812 - SUPPORT (IN_VIVO)
    "we colonized germ-free mice with Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron"
Methanobrevibacter smithii NCBITaxon:2173
SYNTROPHIC_PARTNER CROSS_FEEDER
N/A
  • PMID:16782812 - SUPPORT (IN_VIVO)
    "a prominent archaeon, Methanobrevibacter smithii"
  • PMID:16782812 - SUPPORT (IN_VIVO)
    "B. thetaiotaomicron-derived formate is used by M. smithii for methanogenesis"
Desulfovibrio piger comparator NCBITaxon:901
SYNTROPHIC_PARTNER
N/A
  • PMID:16782812 - SUPPORT (IN_VIVO)
    "or the sulfate-reducing bacterium Desulfovibrio piger"

Ecological Interactions

Ecological interaction network for Bacteroides-Methanobrevibacter Gnotobiotic Mouse Mutualism Bipartite graph where circle nodes represent taxa and colored rectangles represent ecological interactions (cross-feeding, mutualism, syntrophy, competition, commensalism).
Taxon
Cross-feeding
Mutualism
Syntrophy
Competition
Commensalism
Niche partitioning
Colonization facilitation
Strain competition
Predation

Formate Transfer To Methanogenesis

SYNTROPHY

Source Taxon: Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron

Target Taxon: Methanobrevibacter smithii

Metabolites: formate (CHEBI:15740), methane (CHEBI:16183)

Biological Processes:

Evidence

  • PMID:16782812 - SUPPORT (IN_VIVO)
    "B. thetaiotaomicron-derived formate is used by M. smithii for methanogenesis"

Methanogen-Directed Fructan Fermentation

CROSS_FEEDING

Source Taxon: Methanobrevibacter smithii

Target Taxon: Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron

Metabolites: acetate (CHEBI:30089)

Evidence

  • PMID:16782812 - SUPPORT (IN_VIVO)
    "M. smithii directs B. thetaiotaomicron to focus on fermentation of dietary fructans to acetate"

Biassociation Enhances Colonization Density

MUTUALISM

Source Taxon: Methanobrevibacter smithii

Target Taxon: Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron

Evidence

  • PMID:16782812 - SUPPORT (IN_VIVO)
    "enhances the representation of both species in the distal intestines of gnotobiotic mice"

Associated Datasets

Dataset Type Repository Accession
Methanobrevibacter smithii gene sequences
M. smithii gene sequence accession reported with the gnotobiotic mutualism study. 		GENOME OTHER DQ419923

Environmental Factors

Factor Value Unit
germ-free mouse host Germ-free mice were colonized with defined gut organisms. N/A
  • PMID:16782812 - SUPPORT (IN_VIVO)
    "we colonized germ-free mice with Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron"
dietary polysaccharides and fructans B. thetaiotaomicron consumed dietary polysaccharides, with M. smithii directing fructan fermentation. N/A
  • PMID:16782812 - SUPPORT (IN_VIVO)
    "fermentation of dietary fructans to acetate"