By understanding how these specialised bacteria have evolved, researchers hope to develop gut-friendly bacteria that can be genetically engineered to perform as treatments.<\/p>\n
Read more about the gut microbiome:<\/strong><\/p>\n To learn more about these bacteria, scientists at the University of Michigan Medical School tested 354 faecal samples, taken from their undergraduate students. These were then introduced to four seaweed fibres: porphyran, laminarin, alginate and carrageenan.<\/p>\n Laminarin is similar to another group of compounds, beta-glucans, which are more common in cereals like oat, barley, wheat and rye, and in fungi and yeasts. This, the researchers believe, could be why they found the bacteria needed to break down laminarin in many of the samples<\/a>. The bacteria needed to break down the three other fibre types were rare among their student population, even though carrageenan is found in many processed foods, where it acts like gelatine.<\/p>\n The team then looked at the genetic make-up of the bacteria. Surprisingly, they noticed that it wasn\u2019t just the Bacteroidetes <\/em>species that was breaking down the seaweed. Another common gut bacteria, Firmicutes<\/em>, had somehow \u2018picked up\u2019 the genes needed to break down the fibres.<\/p>\n \u201cBacteria in general, and bacteria in the human gut in particular, are very adept at exchanging genes,\u201d said Dr Eric Martens<\/a>, one of the lead authors of the new study. \u201cThey can exchange abilities like [the breakdown of seaweed], but others also. They can exchange antibiotic resistance traits, which is part of the reason why or antibiotic resistance is such a problem.\u201d<\/p>\n Martens says previous studies, such as one in 2010 by a co-author Dr Jan Hendrik Hehemann<\/a>, show that the human gut bacteria share a common ancestor with a marine bacteria that lives in the ocean and feeds on seaweed there<\/a>. How the genes from the marine bacteria ended up in bacteria in the human microbiome \u201cremains a mystery\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we sequenced the genomes of these organisms, we a lot of things moving between bacteria. But we don\u2019t know how frequently these exchange events happen, and we don\u2019t know how these genes get into those [bacteria in the first place].\u201d<\/p>\n Now, scientists are looking to understand exactly how these gene exchanges happen. The knowledge could offer new treatments, as studies show bacteria can be engineered to carry particular genes into a person\u2019s gut<\/a> and exchange them with the other members of the microbiome.<\/p>\n![\""A\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/4\/2022\/03\/GettyImages-623535742-3946c50.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C414"\" "\\"\"Seaweed\\"")
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