High stability of the genome of Akkermansia muciniphila MucT under long-term culturing conditions.

Akkermansia muciniphila MucT has emerged as a next-generation beneficial microbe due to its capacity to improve gut barrier function in mouse models and humans. To assess the potential of A. muciniphila MucT for industrial applications, we studied the genomic stability by cultivating different growth conditions for over 1, 000 generations. We found that the genome of A. muciniphila MucT is highly stable when grown on mucin medium and relatively stable when grown in industrial media. Additionally, we characterized the obtained mutants that identified phase variation as a mechanism operating in A. muciniphila, which allowed us to identify the gene with the locus tag Amuc₁413, encoding a protein involved in exopolysaccharide production, to be involved in mucus binding.