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. 2022 Oct 20;11(20):3280.
doi: 10.3390/foods11203280.

A Novel Streptococcus thermophilus FUA329 Isolated from Human Breast Milk Capable of Producing Urolithin A from Ellagic Acid

Qitong Liu  1   2   3 , Shu Liu  1   2   3 , Qinwen Ye  1   2   3 , Xiaoyue Hou  1   2   3 , Guang Yang  1   2 , Jing Lu  1   2   3 , Yang Hai  4 , Juan Shen  5 , Yaowei Fang  1   2   3
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A Novel Streptococcus thermophilus FUA329 Isolated from Human Breast Milk Capable of Producing Urolithin A from Ellagic Acid

Qitong Liu et al. Foods. .

Abstract

Urolithin A, a metabolite of ellagic acid, has many beneficial biological activities for people. Strains capable of producing urolithin A from ellagic acid have the hope of becoming the next-generation probiotics. However, only a few species of these strains have been reported. In this study, FUA329, a strain capable of converting ellagic acid to urolithin A in vitro, was isolated from the breast milk of healthy Chinese women. The results of morphological observation, physiological and biochemical tests, and 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis confirmed that the strain FUA329 was Streptococcus thermophilus. In addition, the S. thermophilus FUA329 growth phase is consistent with the degradation of ellagic acid, and urolithin A was produced in the stationary phase, with a maximum concentration of 7.38 μM at 50 h. The corresponding conversion efficiency of urolithin A from ellagic acid was 82%. In summary, S. thermophilus FUA329, a novel urolithin A-producing bacterium, would be useful for the industrial production of urolithin A and may be developed as a next-generation probiotic.

Keywords: Streptococcus thermophilus; biotransformation; ellagic acid; human breast milk; urolithin A.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
HPLC analysis at 305 nm of samples. (a) Standard of urolithins (20 μM): urolithin D (1), ellagic acid (2), urolithin M6 (3), urolithin C (4), isourolithin A (5), urolithin A (6), and urolithin B (7); (b) breast milk sample of volunteer 7; (c) medium sample without breast milk; (d) medium sample without ellagic acid; and (e) one of the breast milk samples of non-urolithin A.
Figure 2
Figure 2
HPLC analysis of the fermentation broth of the strain FUA329.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Phylogenetic tree of the strain FUA329 within the genus Streptococcus based on 16S rRNA sequences. The branching pattern was generated by using the maximum-likelihood method. Bootstrap values over 50% from 1000 replications are shown on the branches. The bar below the tree represents 1 nucleotide change per 1000 nucleotides.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Time course of ellagic acid catabolism and urolithin A accumulating in the fermentation broth of the strain FUA329. Ellagic acid (solid squares), urolithin A (solid circles), and the strain FUA329 growth curve (solid triangles).
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