Sucrose-preferring gut microbes prevent host obesity by producing exopolysaccharides

Commensal bacteria affect host health by producing various metabolites from dietary carbohydrates via bacterial glycometabolism; however, the underlying mechanism of action remains unclear. Here, we identified Streptococcus salivarius as a unique anti-obesity commensal bacterium. We found that S. salivarius may prevent host obesity caused by excess sucrose intake via the exopolysaccharide (EPS)-short-chain fatty acid (SCFA)-carbohydrate metabolic axis. Healthy human donor-derived S. salivarius produced high EPS levels from sucrose but not from other sugars. S. salivarius abundance was significantly decreased in human donors with obesity, and the EPS-SCFA bacterial carbohydrate metabolic process was attenuated. Our findings reveal an important mechanism by which host–commensal interactions in glycometabolism affect energy regulation, suggesting an approach for preventing lifestyle-related diseases via prebiotics and probiotics by targeting bacteria and EPS metabolites., , , # Sucrose-preferring gut microbes prevent host obesity by producing exopolysaccharides

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.6djh9w17p](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.6djh9w17p)

We have submitted a description of the data and file structure, sharing/access information, and computational scripts.

## Description of the data and file structure

Figure 1: Isolation and characterisation of exopolysaccharide (EPS)-producing human commensal bacterium *Streptococcus salivarius*. (c) Correlation between high-EPS-producing bacterial abundance in human faeces and donor body mass index (BMI). (n = 132,48 independent experiments). (e) Growth curves of EPS biosynthesis and optical density at 600 nm (OD600) (n = 3 independent experiments). (g) Expression of putative levansucrase and glycosyltransferases mRNAs in MRS medium containing sucrose or glucose during bacterial culture for 10 h determined using RNA-seq (n = 4 independent experiments). (h) Expression of putative levansucrase and glycosyltransferases...