Energy source

When there's not enough oxygen, some bacteria have a clever way to keep producing energy. They use different molecules, called electron acceptors, to help them breathe without oxygen. These molecules often come from the food we eat.
Winter & Bäumler 2023 Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 120: e2316579120
Muramatsu & Winter 2024 Cell & Host Microbe 32(6): 863-874

Certain foods, like some plant-based compounds (e.g., plant-based polyphenols), have functional groups that bacteria can use directly to help them breathe. The transformation of dietary xenobiotics by microbes influences the [composition of the gut microbiome](brain://dKy6u97_H0O7hamiLSjk7A…