Gut microbiome: meet Bilophila wadsworthia – a microbe that’s both friend and foe
Hydrogen sulfide is the gas responsible for the rotten-egg odour that you come across near stagnant water and in drains.
- Hydrogen sulfide is the gas responsible for the rotten-egg odour that you come across near stagnant water and in drains.
- Bilophila wadsworthia is one such species of these bacteria.
- The bacteria that break down sulfur-containing organic matter and produce hydrogen sulfide are fittingly called sulfate-reducing bacteria.
- Sulfate-reducing bacteria are an important part of the normal human gut microbiome, and small amounts of hydrogen sulfide are required in the human gut environment.
- Bilophila wadsworthia was discovered in the 1980s, when it was found in people who had severe appendicitis.
- The researchers found that it grew really well in bile, which is why the genus name is Bilophila (meaning bile loving).
- Since then, research has associated Bilophila wadsworthia with negative effects in the gut.
- It’s not clear how or why expansion of Bilophila wadsworthia can occur in the gut.
Jade Davies receives funding from UKRI via the BBSRC as part of the Norwich Research Park Doctoral Training Partnership (grant no. BB/M011216/1).