Bacteroides Ovatus Gut Bacterium A Crucial Part Of Our Daily Dietary Fiber Toolkit
Monday, January 20, 2014 - 12:50
in Biology & Nature
Researchers have discovered the genetic machinery that turns the common gut bacterium Bacteroides ovatus into the Swiss Army knife of the digestive tract, helping us metabolize a main component of dietary fiber from the cell walls of fruits and vegetables. The findings illuminate the specialized roles played by key members of the vast microbial community living in the human gut, and could inform the development of tailored microbiota transplants to improve intestinal health after antibiotic use or illness. About 92 percent of the population harbors bacteria with a variant of the gene sequence, according to the researchers' survey of public genome data from 250 adult humans. read more