How The Gut Microbiome Processes Seaweed
Published:03 Mar.2022 Source:Michigan Medicine - University of Michigan
The next time you get a craving for sushi rolls, you may feel a renewed appreciation for the ocean -- it's to thank not only for your fish and seaweed wrapper, but, as a new Michigan Medicine study suggests, for the bacteria in your gut that digest seaweed.
The ocean is one of the largest reservoirs of carbon on the planet, much of it locked inside seaweed. Marine bacteria play a critical role in the carbon cycle by breaking down seaweed. A little over a decade ago, researchers found the genes that enable ocean bacteria to degrade the complex carbohydrate known as porphyran, found in cold-water seaweed, in a microbiome sample from a Japanese adult.