Language
English
Publication Date
12-31-2026
Journal
Gut Microbes
DOI
10.1080/19490976.2026.2691334
PMID
42359789
PMCID
PMC13313206
PubMedCentral® Posted Date
6-26-2026
PubMedCentral® Full Text Version
Post-print
Abstract
Akkermansia muciniphila is a key member of the gut microbiota and plays important roles in host metabolism and health. In the colon, A. muciniphila extracts nutrients from oligosaccharide-rich mucin glycans that comprise the mucosa. However, this environment is complex and shaped by dietary inputs, microbiome metabolism, and mucin glycan composition varying across hosts, gastrointestinal regions, and physiological states. How strains of A. muciniphila integrate these nutrient signals into growth initiation and niche colonization remains unclear. Here, we compare physiological responses of a human- and mouse-derived strain of A. muciniphila, finding that dietary sugars differentially affect these isolates, suggesting host-associated tuning of metabolic capacity. In contrast, several mucin-derived sugars impose a conserved, concentration-dependent delay in growth initiation, implicating the lag phase as a critical metabolic checkpoint for growth. Genetic suppressor analysis identified sugar kinases and a component of the tricarboxylic acid cycle as genetically encoded control points linking glycan sugar exposure to the energy balance required for growth. These findings demonstrate that mucin-derived sugars function as both nutrients and metabolic stressors, regulating growth initiation. We propose that A. muciniphila employs metabolic “brakes” to coordinate growth with mucin composition, putatively linking host glycan landscapes to microbial physiology and ecological fitness within the mucus layer.
Keywords
Mucins, Animals, Humans, Akkermansia, Mice, Gastrointestinal Microbiome, Polysaccharides, Dietary Sugars, Colon, Citric Acid Cycle, Verrucomicrobia, Akkermansia muciniphila, microbial metabolism, central carbon metabolism, lag phase, mucin, glycans, gut colonization
Published Open-Access
yes
Recommended Citation
Lakey, Bryan D; Wozniak, Katherine J; Britton, Robert A; et al., "Mucin-Derived Sugars Act as Metabolic Brakes Controlling Growth Initiation In Akkermansia muciniphila" (2026). Faculty, Staff and Students Publications. 8780.
https://digitalcommons.library.tmc.edu/baylor_docs/8780