Metabolic Synergy between Human Symbionts Bacteroides and Methanobrevibacter

Abstract

The human gut functions through a complex system of interactions between the host human tissue and the microbes which inhabit it. These diverse interactions are difficult to model or examine under controlled laboratory conditions.

Alterations of gut microbiota in cirrhotic patients with spontaneous bacterial peritonitis: A distinctive diagnostic feature

“…F. prausnitzii is the main butyrate-producing bacterium, and its short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) metabolites have an important anti-inflammatory effect on the intestine and liver ( Lee et al., 2020 ). M. smithii is the dominant methanogen in the gut and can conserve energy through methanogenesis ( Catlett et al., 2022 ). A decrease in M. smithii in gut communities was associated with IBD ( Ghavami et al., 2018 ).…”

Supplementation of Sulfide or Acetate and 2-Mercaptoethane Sulfonate Restores Growth of the Methanosarcina acetivorans ΔhdrABC Deletion Mutant during Methylotrophic Methanogenesis

“…It also has the largest methanoarchaeal genome sequenced to date [ 13 ], and a large contingent of unknown or general-function genes predicted that suggests a wealth of undiscovered molecular biology and biochemistry. Although growth experiments in defined medium with limited carbon and energy sources is necessary to develop an understanding of gene:function relationships through genetic and molecular approaches, it is also important to consider higher-order interactions between genes controlling metabolism [ 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 ]. Much work has been done to uncover the differences in transcript abundance between growth using single energy sources in Methanosarcina genera [ 8 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 ], but is unknown how the need to transition from one growth substrate to another is sensed, and how changes in culture medium composition affect metabolic fluxes.…”

“…Much work has been done to uncover the differences in transcript abundance between growth using single energy sources in Methanosarcina genera [ 8 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 ], but is unknown how the need to transition from one growth substrate to another is sensed, and how changes in culture medium composition affect metabolic fluxes. Our study highlights the need for further experiments to understand how genetics and environmental factors such as sulfur source and mixotrophic growth interact to affect growth of methanogens to better understand how methanogens compete with each other and with other microbes for nutrients in natural microbial communities [ 14 , 24 , 25 , 26 ].…”

Methanogen Levels Are Significantly Associated with Fecal Microbiota Composition and Alpha Diversity in Healthy Adults and Irritable Bowel Syndrome Patients

“…Hence, the consistent cooccurrence of both taxa observed in this study likely reflects their syntrophic interaction in the intestine with HM. In addition, greater metabolic efficiency of saccharolytic bacteria has been observed when these bacteria were cocultured with M. smithii in vitro ( 33 ) or cocolonized with M. smithii in a humanized mouse model ( 34 ). Overall, these observations indicate that the introduction of methanogens may have a significant impact on the overall microbiota composition and function.…”