Mechanism that 'good' bacteria found in bacteria eating vegetable sugar promotes intestinal health

ByDaniel Go

A mechanism by which bacteria in the intestines nutritiously containing sugar contained in leafy vegetables restricts bad bacteria to regulate intestinal health has been clarified in a joint research between Australia and the United Kingdom.

Sweet discovery in leafy greens holds key to gut health
http://phys.org/news/2016-02-sweet-discovery-leafy-greens-key.html


The Collaborative Research Team at York University, Eliza Hall Laboratories, and Bio 21 LaboratoryNature Chemical BiologyAccording to the research results published in the magazine, "good" bacteria such as E. coli in the human intestine nourish the sugar contained in the leafy vegetables, and by eating the leafy vegetables the bad bacteria in the intestines It proved to be a barrier to suppress growth and prevent breeding.

The research team has succeeded in clarifying the mechanism by which intestinal bacteria extract sugar from vegetables, and bacteria use enzymes that absorb and metabolize sulfur-containing sugar molecules called "YihQ" Thing. Leafy vegetables like spinach contain many sulfur-containing sugar molecules called "SQ sugar", and a quantity of SQ sugar equivalent to the world annual production of iron ore is produced from leafy vegetables .

Sulfur is a substance indispensable for the construction of proteins, "sulfur circulation" that the sulfur in the earth is digested and absorbed in the body and discharged outside the body by ingesting leafy vegetables is done by the action of bacteria I will. How sulfur on the earth is being cycled to living organisms has been regarded as a mystery for 50 years, and it is said that the circulation mechanism was found for the first time in this experiment. The research team explains that this circulation action can activate good bacteria in the intestine and suppress the reproduction of bad bacteria in the intestine.

ByDay Donaldson

In addition, the mechanism of new intestinal bacteria has been elucidated, there is a possibility that it may also be useful for the development of new antibiotics effective for pathogens that are resistant to existing antibiotics.