December 23, 2024

A Foul-Smelling Savior: How a New Gut Microbe Fights Dangerous Pathogens

While hydrogen sulfide has protective homes against particular pathogens, extreme quantities can damage gut health. The discovery offers insight into the roles of taurine and hydrogen sulfide in the gut, as well as their wider health ramifications. In light of these findings, the discovery of a brand-new gut microbe that feeds exclusively on taurine (aptly named Taurinivorans muris) is another piece of an interesting puzzle.
To access enough taurine in the gut, however, Taurinivorans muris needs the assistance of other gut microorganisms to release it from bile acids. Taurine is one of the most essential sources of hydrogen sulfide production in the gut.

FISH: Fluorescence microscopy of Taurinivorans muris in pure culture. Credit: C: Huimin Ye
Excessive levels can have unfavorable consequences and have been associated with gut inflammation and damage to the digestive lining. Finding the essential players and procedures that produce this poisonous gas in our gut is a basic primary step on the roadway to establishing therapeutic interventions, for example, for inflammatory bowel disease.
Keeping Young: The Role of Taurine
The germs Bilophila wadsworthia is among the most important taurine utilizers in human beings. In the present study, researchers led by Alexander Loy at CeMESS, the Centre for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science of the University of Vienna, have actually discovered a brand-new genus of hydrogen sulfide-producing germs in the mouse intestinal tract.
” The germs we explained has a rather out of balance diet plan,” explains Loy, “it specializes in consuming taurine.” Taurine is a semi-essential amino acid, which we manufacture in percentages in our liver. We get most of our taurine from our diets– specifically seafood, meat, and dairy.
SEM 1: Electron microscopy of Taurinivorans muris in pure culture. Credit: C: Huimin Ye
Like hydrogen sulfide, taurine is linked in a smorgasbord of physiological processes. Current studies have actually found a link in between taurine and healthy aging– it seems this nutrient might stave away age-related disease. Because of these findings, the discovery of a brand-new gut microorganism that feeds exclusively on taurine (appropriately called Taurinivorans muris) is another piece of an interesting puzzle.
” By separating the very first taurine degrader in the mouse gut, were one action more detailed to understanding how these gut microbes mediate animal and human health” discusses Huimin Ye, lead author of the research study.
To access sufficient taurine in the gut, nevertheless, Taurinivorans muris requires the aid of other gut microbes to launch it from bile acids. Taurine-containing bile acids are produced in the liver and are increasingly released into the intestine during a high-fat diet to help our body digest fats. The activities of the germs in the intestinal tract in turn influence the bile acid metabolic process in the liver. The outcomes of the Viennese scientists for that reason also contribute to a much better understanding of these intricate interactions in bile acid metabolism, which has an effect on processes and illness throughout the body.
Taurine Degrading Microbes Protect Against Pathogens
Among the most essential functions of the cooperative microorganisms in the gut is to safeguard versus pathogens. The microbiome has a versatile toolbox of protective mechanisms– and utilizing taurine to produce hydrogen sulfide is one of them. “Hydrogen sulfide might suppress the oxygen-dependent metabolic process of some pathogens,” explains Ye.
In the present research study, the scientists found that Taurinivorans muris has a protective role against Klebsiella and Salmonella, 2 important gut pathogens.
” The protective system of Taurinivorans muris against pathogens may be through hydrogen sulfide but is basically not yet completely comprehended” adds Alexander Loy. Taurine is one of the most important sources of hydrogen sulfide production in the gut. The study thus creates fundamental knowledge on the physiological interactions between the various gut microbes and their hosts, which is required to establish new microbiome-based treatments.
Reference: “Ecophysiology and interactions of a taurine-respiring germs in the mouse gut” by Huimin Ye, Sabrina Borusak, Claudia Eberl, Julia Krasenbrink, Anna S. Weiss, Song-Can Chen, Buck T. Hanson, Bela Hausmann, Craig W. Herbold, Manuel Pristner, Benjamin Zwirzitz, Benedikt Warth, Petra Pjevac, David Schleheck, Bärbel Stecher and Alexander Loy, 18 September 2023, Nature Communications.DOI: 10.1038/ s41467-023-41008-z.

While hydrogen sulfide has protective homes versus certain pathogens, extreme amounts can harm gut health. The discovery offers insight into the functions of taurine and hydrogen sulfide in the gut, as well as their broader health ramifications.
Taurine-Degrading Bacteria Influence Intestinal Microbiome
An unique germs, Taurinivorans muris, which feeds on taurine and discharges hydrogen sulfide, has actually been identified by scientists. This discovery uses important insights into gut health and lays the groundwork for future restorative interventions.
A worldwide team of researchers led by microbiologist Alexander Loy from the University of Vienna has discovered a new intestinal microorganism that feeds exclusively on taurine and produces the foul-smelling gas hydrogen sulfide. This is also true of Taurinivorans muris: the bacterium shows a protective function versus Klebsiella and Salmonella, two important pathogens.
Whats That Smell?
Having small amounts of hydrogen sulfide in the gut is a good thing; in truth, its essential for a number of physiological processes, and can even secure against pathogens. Hydrogen sulfide-producing microbes in the gut might assist “choke out” oxygen-dependent pathogens such as Klebsiella, making it harder for them to colonize.