Megasphaera elsdenii, a Commensal Member of the Gut Microbiota, Is Associated with Elevated Gas Production during In Vitro Fermentation

Authors

• Erasme Mutuyemungu, University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Isolation Bio inc
• Hollman A. Motta-Romero, University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Chobani
• Qinnan Yang, University of Nebraska-Lincoln and University of Michigan
• Sujun Liu, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
• Sean Liu, University of Nebraska-Lincoln and National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research
• Mukti Singh, National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research
• Devin J. Rose, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

ORCID IDs

Rose https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1333-6318

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

2023

Citation

Gut Microbiome (2024) 5: 1–18

doi: 10.1017/gmb.2023.18

Comments

United States government work. Public domain

Abstract

Megasphaera elsdenii has been correlated with gas production by human faecal microbiota during fermentation. The objective of this study was to determine the role of M. elsdenii in gas production by the microbiome. Kidney beans and sweet potatoes were subjected to in vitro digestion and dialysis followed by fermentation with ten faecal microbiomes: three with detectable M. elsdenii (Me_D) and seven with no detectable M. elsdenii (Me_ND). Me_D microbiomes produced more gas than the Me_ND microbiomes (p < 0.001). Me_D microbiomes produced more gas during fermentation of sweet potatoes than kidney beans (p < 0.001), while the opposite was true for the Me_ND microbiomes (p < 0.001). Among amplicon sequence variants that were associated with gas production, M. elsdenii had the strongest association (p < 0.001). Me_D microbiomes consumed more acetate and produced more butyrate than Me_ND microbiomes (p < 0.001). Gas production by M. elsdenii was confirmed by fermentation of sweet potatoes and acetate with human and rumen M. elsdenii isolates. The human isolate produced gas on sweet potatoes and acetate. This study suggests that M. elsdenii may be involved in gas production during the fermentation of flatulogenic foods through utilisation of undigestible substrates or cross-feeding on acetate.