An international team of scientists led by microbiologist Alexander Loy from the University of Vienna has discovered a new intestinal microbe that feeds exclusively on taurine and produces the foul-smelling gas hydrogen sulfide. The researchers have thus provided another building block in the understanding of those microbial processes that have fascinating effects on health. This is also true of Taurinivorans muris: the bacterium shows a protective function against Klebsiella and Salmonella, two important pathogens. The results are currently published in Nature Communications.
What’s that smell?
The gut microbiome mediates our health in a myriad of ways. One of those ways is by contributing to the levels of hydrogen sulfide — the toxic gas responsible for foul smelling farts. Having small amounts of hydrogen sulfide in the gut is a good thing; in fact, it’s essential for a number of…
