<p>Scientists have identified a new bacteria in the human gut which is more abundant in people with plant-rich diets and may play a role in digesting fibre.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Researchers from Cornell University and University of California, Berkeley, have sequenced the bacteria's genome and describe the microbe's appearance and function based on genetic clues.<br /><br />The newly discovered Melainabacteria, found in groundwater and in mammalian guts, is more common in herbivorous mammals and appears to add value to diets by synthesising vitamins B and K for their hosts.<br /><br />The human immune system recognises specific sequences in the flagella of commensal and symbiotic bacteria, including Melainabacteria, offering evidence that the bugs are common gut residents.<br /><br />Melainabacteria are close relatives of billion-year-old Cyanobacteria - often called blue-green algae - ancient photosynthesising microbes that helped raise atmospheric oxygen in prehistoric eras, and likely led to early plant cells.<br /><br />Only about a quarter of all bacteria can be cultured in the lab, so researchers look for a signature gene sequence – called 16S rRNA - to identify new types of bacteria.<br />The human gut contains between 10 trillion and 100 trillion bacterial cells, and most of those fall into five different phyla, or lineages.<br /><br />"We started picking up sequences [for Melainabacteria], but when we put them in context with other bacteria, they were on the branch of Cyanobacteria," said Ruth Ley, assistant professor of microbiology and a senior author of the study.<br /><br />Melainabacteria belong on a common lineage with Cyanobacteria, but they diverged and do not photosynthesise, Ley said.<br /><br />When scientists used computer programmes to analyse genetic sequences of gut samples, the computers classified Melainabacteria as Cyanobacteria. But then researchers began asking, why are they in the gut?<br /><br />They used a new technique for stitching bacterial genomes together from aquifer groundwater and human stool samples.<br /><br />They picked four samples, three human stools and one from an aquifer, where the new bacteria accounted for up to 4 percent of the community of microbes.<br /><br />Using the new technique, they pieced together eight genomes, one of them from the aquifer sample. The genomes also confirm that the gut and environmental Melainabacteria belong in separate subphyla.<br /><br />The researchers also believe that Melainabacteria facilitate fermentation in the gut, probably to break down plant fibres, which produces hydrogen gas as a byproduct. But when hydrogen accumulates, it stops the fermentation process.<br /><br />The new bug is likely to rely on a partner microbe that processes hydrogen, Ley said.<br />The research was published in the journal eLife.</p>
<p>Scientists have identified a new bacteria in the human gut which is more abundant in people with plant-rich diets and may play a role in digesting fibre.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Researchers from Cornell University and University of California, Berkeley, have sequenced the bacteria's genome and describe the microbe's appearance and function based on genetic clues.<br /><br />The newly discovered Melainabacteria, found in groundwater and in mammalian guts, is more common in herbivorous mammals and appears to add value to diets by synthesising vitamins B and K for their hosts.<br /><br />The human immune system recognises specific sequences in the flagella of commensal and symbiotic bacteria, including Melainabacteria, offering evidence that the bugs are common gut residents.<br /><br />Melainabacteria are close relatives of billion-year-old Cyanobacteria - often called blue-green algae - ancient photosynthesising microbes that helped raise atmospheric oxygen in prehistoric eras, and likely led to early plant cells.<br /><br />Only about a quarter of all bacteria can be cultured in the lab, so researchers look for a signature gene sequence – called 16S rRNA - to identify new types of bacteria.<br />The human gut contains between 10 trillion and 100 trillion bacterial cells, and most of those fall into five different phyla, or lineages.<br /><br />"We started picking up sequences [for Melainabacteria], but when we put them in context with other bacteria, they were on the branch of Cyanobacteria," said Ruth Ley, assistant professor of microbiology and a senior author of the study.<br /><br />Melainabacteria belong on a common lineage with Cyanobacteria, but they diverged and do not photosynthesise, Ley said.<br /><br />When scientists used computer programmes to analyse genetic sequences of gut samples, the computers classified Melainabacteria as Cyanobacteria. But then researchers began asking, why are they in the gut?<br /><br />They used a new technique for stitching bacterial genomes together from aquifer groundwater and human stool samples.<br /><br />They picked four samples, three human stools and one from an aquifer, where the new bacteria accounted for up to 4 percent of the community of microbes.<br /><br />Using the new technique, they pieced together eight genomes, one of them from the aquifer sample. The genomes also confirm that the gut and environmental Melainabacteria belong in separate subphyla.<br /><br />The researchers also believe that Melainabacteria facilitate fermentation in the gut, probably to break down plant fibres, which produces hydrogen gas as a byproduct. But when hydrogen accumulates, it stops the fermentation process.<br /><br />The new bug is likely to rely on a partner microbe that processes hydrogen, Ley said.<br />The research was published in the journal eLife.</p>