This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Why do the gut microbiomes of people from industrialized and nonindustrialized regions differ? A study by the Helmholtz Center for Infection Research (HZI) in collaboration with the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), the University of Trento (Italy) and the University of Tübingen shows that diet alone does not explain these differences.
In artificially assembled gut communities, the team examined numerous dietary components and demonstrated that plant-based dietary fiber shifted the balance in favor of the bacterium Segatella copri, which is particularly common in nonindustrialized regions. However, the effect also depended on which other bacteria were present. The results were published in the journal Nature Microbiology.
The composition of the gut microbiome does not depend solely on what people eat. The bacteria are already present and their interactions also play an important role, as shown by a study conducted by a research team led by professor Till Strowig, head of the "Microbial Immune Regulation" department at the HZI. Using model systems, the researchers investigated how dietary components influence competition between two widespread bacterial groups in the gut.
They focused on Bacteroidaceae, which are common in industrialized populations, and on Prevotellaceae—which include Segatella copri—that are more frequently found in many nonindustrialized populations. A plant-rich diet has long been discussed as a possible explanation for regional differences in microbiome patterns. However, diet alone does not explain them.
"We wanted to understand which factors actually influence the competition between these bacteria in the gut," says Dr. Caroline Tawk, one of the first authors of the study and, until recently, a researcher in Strowig's department. She conducted research at EMBL in Heidelberg for several months, where she developed a highly parallelized experimental setup to investigate a wide range of dietary components.
First, the team assembled a defined community of 21 human gut bacteria. They then tested 94 dietary components against this community, focusing in particular on complex carbohydrates and vitamins. More than half of the components tested promoted the growth of S. copri within this community.
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