Gut Bacteria have a novel sweet tooth: ribose sensing and scavenging from fiber

ABSTRACT

Dietary fiber is known to influence symbiotic gut microbiota community structure and physiology; however, how and if dietary fiber can induce further exogenous nutrient uptake within gut microbes is ill-defined. Recent findings highlight how during periods of high-fiber consumption, a prevalent gut bacteria senses and scavenges the ubiquitous sugar ribose. This molecular adaptation exemplifies how particular gut microbes have developed a sophisticated system to scavenge nutrients in a diet-dependent manner.

KEYWORDS:

• Fiber
• microbiome
• nutrition
• ribose utilization
• gut colonization

Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest

No potential conflicts of interest were disclosed.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health (US).