Sugar ABC transporter repertoires predict ecological dynamics in gut microbiome communities

Sugar ABC transporter repertoires predict ecological dynamics in gut microbiome communities | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Sugar ABC transporter repertoires predict ecological dynamics in gut microbiome communities Jonas Schluter, Harsh Maan, William Jogia, Caichen Duan, Fanny Matheis, and 3 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8380132/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract The gut microbiome plays a central role in human health, but modern diets and lifestyles alter its composition. Increased sugar consumption is a hallmark of modern diets, yet its impact on the microbiome remains poorly understood. Here, we combine comparative genomics, experiments, and longitudinal human diet-microbiome records to show that the response of the microbiome to dietary sugars is explained by the carriage of sugar ABC (ATP-binding cassette) transporters. Bacteria encoding these transporters exhibit enhanced growth and consistently outcompete others in both monocultures and complex consortia across contexts. Targeted deletion of sugar transporter genes in Escherichia coli, a model gut pathobiont of the expanded Oligo-Mouse-Microbiota (OMM15) consortium, reveals that a specific sugar ABC transporter gene is required to compete, and invade this community. In gnotobiotic mice colonized with the OMM15 consortium, dietary sugar supplementation selectively increases the expansion of sugar ABC transporter-positive bacteria, including E. coli. Paired human diet-microbiome data reveal that intake of dietary sugars significantly correlates with the expansion of sugar ABC transporter-positive genera. Taken together, our work identifies a genomic predictor of microbiome responses to dietary sugars and suggests ways to anticipate major shifts in the abundances of important gut bacteria. Biological sciences/Microbiology/Microbial communities/Microbiome Biological sciences/Ecology/Ecological genetics Full Text Additional Declarations Yes there is potential Competing Interest. Jonas Schluter is co-founder of Postbiotics Plus Research and holds equity, serves on an Advisory board and holds equity of Jona Health. JS has filed intellectual property applications related to the microbiome (reference numbers # PCT/US2023/060616). Supplementary Files Suppinfo.pdf Supplementary Information Extendedfigures.pdf Extended data figure 1, Extended data figure 2, Extended data figure 3, Extended data figure 4, Extended data figure 5, Extended data figure 6 and Extended data figure 7 Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8380132","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":569667206,"identity":"ba94a452-e6c9-49af-b1c3-01ffef52d6c6","order_by":0,"name":"Jonas 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Increased sugar consumption is a hallmark of modern diets, yet its impact on the microbiome remains poorly understood. Here, we combine comparative genomics, experiments, and longitudinal human diet-microbiome records to show that the response of the microbiome to dietary sugars is explained by the carriage of sugar ABC (ATP-binding cassette) transporters. Bacteria encoding these transporters exhibit enhanced growth and consistently outcompete others in both monocultures and complex consortia across contexts. Targeted deletion of sugar transporter genes in Escherichia coli, a model gut pathobiont of the expanded Oligo-Mouse-Microbiota (OMM15) consortium, reveals that a specific sugar ABC transporter gene is required to compete, and invade this community. In gnotobiotic mice colonized with the OMM15 consortium, dietary sugar supplementation selectively increases the expansion of sugar ABC transporter-positive bacteria, including E. coli. 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