Omics-based analysis of cultivation in food-grade media.

Over the past years, the gut microbiota and its correlation to health and disease has been studied extensively. In terms of beneficial microbes, an increased interest in () has been observed since its discovery. Direct evidence for the role of in host health has been provided in both mice and human studies. However, for human interventions with cells, industrial-scale fermentations are needed, and hence, the used cultivation media should be free of animal-derived components, food-grade, non-allergenic and allow for efficient growth to high densities to provide cost-effective production platforms. In this study, we assessed the growth and performance of in batch bioreactors using newly developed plant-based media. The bioreactors were supplemented with varying carbon sources, including different ratios of N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) and glucose. We monitored the growth of in the plant-based medium using optical density (OD600) measurements and microscopy. In addition, we used a combination of biochemical analysis as well as transcriptional and proteomics analysis to gain detailed insight into the physiology. Comparisons between growth on these media and that on mucin revealed differences at both transcriptome and proteome levels, including differences in the expression of glycosyltransferases, signaling proteins, and stress response. Furthermore, elongated cells and higher OD600 values were observed using the plant-based media as compared to cultivation media containing mucin. These differences do not hamper growth, and therefore, our data suggest that the food-grade medium composition described here could be used to produce with high yields for therapeutic purposes.