14 DAY TRIAL // A new research conducted by investigators at the University of British Columbia (UBC), in Canada, sheds some light on the mechanisms enabling simple bacteria in our digestive tracts to break down the cell walls of fruits and plants. Without these organisms, we would most likely starve.
Dietary fibers are long chains of natural polymeric carbohydrates that are absolutely essential for our nutrition. Even though we rely on them heavily for sustenance, our bodies are unable to digest and process these fibers on their own – they can only do so with the help of specialized microbiota.
In a paper published in the January 19 issue of the top scientific journal Nature, experts led by Professor Harry Brumer – with the UBC Michael Smith Laboratories – say that Bacteroides ovatus is responsible for breaking down a major type of dietary fiber called xyloglucan.
In this research, the study team was able to identify the exact sequence of genes that enable these bacteria to chop up xyloglucan “from lettuce leaves to tomato fruits. B. ovatus and its complex system of enzymes provide a crucial part of our digestive toolkit,” the team concludes.