Wheat bran is a cereal rich in dietary fibers that have high levels of ferulic acid, which has prebiotic effects on the intestinal microbiota and the host. Herein we explored the effect of xylooligosaccharide, xylan, and whole wheat bran on the human gut bacteria and screened for potential ferulic acid esterase genes. Using in vitro fermentation, we analyzed the air pressure, pH-value, and short-chain fatty acid levels. We also performed 16S rRNA gene and metagenomic sequencing. A Venn diagram analysis revealed that 80% of the core operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were shared among the samples, and most of the xylooligosaccharide treatment core OTUs (319/333 OTUs) were shared with the other two treatments’ core OTUs. A significant difference analysis revealed that the relative abundance of Dorea, Bilophila, and Sulfurovum in wheat bran treatment was higher than that in xylan and xylooligosaccharide treatments. The clusters of orthologous groups of proteins functional composition of all samples was similar to the microbiota composition of the control. Using metagenomic sequencing, we revealed seven genes containing the conserved residues, Gly-X-Ser-X-Gly, and the catalytic triad, Ser-His-Asp, which are thus potential ferulic acid esterase genes. All the results indicate that xylan and/or xylooligosaccharide, the main dietary fibers in wheat bran, plays a major role in in vitro fermentation by the human gut microbiota.

麦麸是富含膳食纤维的谷物，具有高水平的阿魏酸，对肠道菌群和宿主具有益生元的作用。在这里，我们探索了木寡糖，木聚糖和全麦麸对人肠道细菌的影响，并筛选了潜在的阿魏酸酯酶基因。使用体外发酵中，我们分析了气压，pH值和短链脂肪酸水平。我们还进行了16S rRNA基因和宏基因组测序。Venn图分析显示，样本中共有80％的核心操作生物分类单元（OTU）共享，而大多数低聚木糖处理核心OTU（319/333 OTU）与其他两种处理的核心OTU共享。显着差异分析显示，相对丰度多雷亚， 嗜蓝菌和 硫磺麦麸处理中的木薯处理高于木聚糖和木寡糖处理。所有样品的蛋白质功能组成的直系同源基团簇与对照的微生物群组成相似。使用宏基因组测序，我们揭示了包含保守残基Gly-X-Ser-X-Gly和催化三联体Ser-His-Asp的七个基因，因此它们都是潜在的阿魏酸酯酶基因。所有结果表明，麦麸的主要膳食纤维木聚糖和/或低聚木糖，在小麦中起主要作用。体外 人肠道菌群发酵。