Genome- and Toxicology-Based Safety Assessment of Probiotic Akkermansia muciniphila ONE Isolated from Humans

Abstract

In this study, the genome of Akkermansia muciniphila ONE (designated AKK ONE) was sequenced, assembled, and analyzed. In addition, the safety of this strain was further evaluated by toxicological studies. The results showed that the AKK ONE genome is contained on a single chromosome with a total length of 2,817,524 bp and an average GC content of 55.48%. In total, 2411, 1131, 1168, 1745, and 1402 genes were annotated to the NR, GO, KEGG, COG, and SwissProt database, respectively. Potential resistance genes, adeF, tetW, ANT(3″)-IIa, and aadA1 were detected. AKK ONE was sensitive to ampicillin, ceftriaxone, cefotaxime, meropenem, tetracycline, and chloramphenicol and resistant to moxifloxacin. No potential virulence-related genes were detected. The PathogenFinder database analysis showed that AKK ONE was a non-potential human pathogen. This strain had good gastroenteric fluid tolerance and a weak ability to colonize the gut. No test item-related adverse effects were observed in the acute and subchronic toxicity test. AKK ONE did not display mutagenic activity either. This strain did not change the hematological and clinical biochemical parameters of mice. The weights of the organs were not affected by AKK ONE treatment. These results support that AKK ONE is safe for use as a probiotic at a dose of 8.28 × 109 CFU/kg bw/day.