Skip to main content

Research Repository

Advanced Search

Bacteria increase host micronutrient availability: mechanisms revealed by studies in C. elegans

Maynard, Claire; Weinkove, David

Bacteria increase host micronutrient availability: mechanisms revealed by studies in C. elegans Thumbnail


Authors

Claire Maynard



Abstract

Micronutrients cannot be synthesized by humans and are obtained from three different sources: diet, gut microbiota, and oral supplements. The microbiota generates significant quantities of micronutrients, but the contribution of these compounds to total uptake is unclear. The role of bacteria in the synthesis and uptake of micronutrients and supplements is widely unexplored and may have important implications for human health. The efficacy and safety of several micronutrient supplements, including folic acid, have been questioned due to some evidence of adverse effects on health. The use of the simplified animal-microbe model, Caenorhabditis elegans, and its bacterial food source, Escherichia coli, provides a controllable system to explore the underlying mechanisms by which bacterial metabolism impacts host micronutrient status. These studies have revealed mechanisms by which bacteria may increase the bioavailability of folic acid, B12, and iron. These routes of uptake interact with bacterial metabolism, with the potential to increase bacterial pathogenesis, and thus may be both beneficial and detrimental to host health.

Citation

Maynard, C., & Weinkove, D. (2020). Bacteria increase host micronutrient availability: mechanisms revealed by studies in C. elegans. Genes & Nutrition, 15, Article 4. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12263-020-00662-4

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Feb 13, 2020
Online Publication Date Mar 5, 2020
Publication Date 2020
Deposit Date Oct 23, 2022
Publicly Available Date Oct 24, 2022
Journal Genes & Nutrition
Print ISSN 1555-8932
Electronic ISSN 1865-3499
Publisher BioMed Central
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 15
Article Number 4
DOI https://doi.org/10.1186/s12263-020-00662-4

Files

Published Journal Article (1 Mb)
PDF

Publisher Licence URL
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Copyright Statement
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.





You might also like



Downloadable Citations