This layer is the most rigid and forms the final barrier of the cell wall before the membrane. Like β -glucan, chitin is filamentous and provides rigidity to the cell wall. Due to the more simple structure of the β -glucan–chitin complex, it is more accessible to a wider range of bacterial species including some common secondary fermenters. Bifidobacterium are capable of growth on the products of β -glucan and chitin fermentation released by Bacteroides spp. This is especially important as Bifidobacterium are butyrate-producing bacteria which are essential in the HGM, especially when there is a high abundance of Bacteroidota, so that acetate production is offset, maintaining healthy concentrations. β -Glucan–chitin and Bifidobacterium could be used as a symbiotic pairing to bolster the HGM with more butyrate-producing bacteria, potentially to treat diseases that arise from SCFA imbalances; this would especially be effective when there is a high Bacteroides count. Conclusion The HGM plays a hugely important role in human health; the better we understand it and how our shifting diets affect it, the better equipped we are to maintain our own health. Quorn foods provide many benefits to the HGM because the fibre fraction is capable of supporting the growth of hugely
beneficial bacteria. This could mean that one-day Quorn foods are recognised as an effective treatment and preventative measure for a plethora of diseases associated with HGM imbalances. Further reading Cryan J, O’Riordan K, Cowan C, Sandhu K, Bastiaanssen T et al. The microbiota–gut–brain axis. Physiol Rev 2019;99:1877–2013. Finnigan T, Needham L, Abbott C. Mycoprotein: a healthy new protein with a low environmental impact. In: Nadathur S, Wanasundara JPD and Scanlin L (eds). Sustainable Protein Sources . Cambridge, MA: Academic Press; 2017, pp. 305–325. Cuskin F, Lowe E, Temple M, Zhu Y, Cameron E et al. Human gut Bacteroidetes can utilize yeast mannan through a selfish mechanism. Nature 2015;517:165–169. Oba S, Sunagawa T, Tanihiro R, Awashima K, Sugiyama H et al. Prebiotic effects of yeast mannan, which selectively promotes Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron and Bacteroides ovatus in a human colonic microbiota model. Sci Rep 2020;10:17351. Riviere A, Selak M, Lantin D, Leroy F, De Vuyst L. Bifidobacteria and butyrate-producing colon bacteria: importance and strategies for their stimulation in the human gut. Front Microbiol 2016;7:979.
26 Microbiology Today May 2023 | microbiologysociety.org
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