| Methanobrevibacter smithii | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Archaea |
| Kingdom: | Euryarchaeota |
| Phylum: | Euryarchaeota |
| Class: | Methanobacteria |
| Order: | Methanobacteriales |
| Family: | Methanobacteriaceae |
| Genus: | Methanobrevibacter |
| Species: | M. smithii |
| Binomial name | |
| Methanobrevibacter smithii Balch and Wolfe 1981 |
|
Methanobrevibacter smithii is the dominant archaeon in the human gut. It is important for the efficient digestion of polysaccharides (complex sugars) because it consumes end products of bacterial fermentation. Methanobrevibacter smithii is a single-celled micro-organism from the Archaea domain. M. smithii recycles hydrogen in methane, allowing for an increase in the transformation of nutrients into calories.[1]
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The human gut microbiota consist of three main groups of hydrogen consuming microbes: methanogens including M. smithii, a polyphyletic group of acetogens, and sulfate-reducing bacteria. Defining the roles of these microbes is significant to understanding how hydrogen metabolism affects the efficiency of fermentation of dietary components. Accumulation of hydrogen in the gut reduces the efficiency of microbial fermentation as well as the yield of energy. Methanogenic archaea are particularly significant for the human gut because they are pivotal in the removal of excess hydrogen from the human gut.[1] M. smithii is the most common methanogenic archaeon in the human gut microbiota. Although M. smithii is paramount in digestive processes, it has a low prevalence in human stool.[2]
The human gut microbiota is dominated by Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes. Archaea are most prominently represented by the methanogenic M. smithii. M. smithii is believed to be a therapeutic target for manipulation and an adaptation to the gut ecosystem.[3]
M. smithii has significant enrichment of genes involved in the utilization of CO2, H2, and formate for methanogenesis. It also has an intact pathway to allow for CO2 utilization gene cluster for the methanogenic consumption of B. thetaiotaomicron-produced metabolite.[3]
M. smithii supports methanogenic and nonmethanogenic removal of diverse bacterial end products of fermentation. [3]
The dominant archaeon in the human gut ecosystem affects the specificity and efficiency of bacterial digestion of dietary polysaccharides. This influences the person’s calorie harvest and body fat. Researchers have sequenced M. smithii genome, indicating that M. smithii may be a therapeutic target for reducing energy harvest in obese humans.
In 2009, the largest human study concerning obesity and gut microbiota to date was conducted. Obesity disorders are the result of an imbalance and have serious consequences such as cardiovascular disease, type-two diabetes, and colon cancer. The gut microbiota and environment contributes to the energy imbalance because of its involvement in energy intake, conversion and storage. Culture-independent methods have showed that high proportions of methanogens can comprise up to 10% of all anaerobes in the colons of healthy adults. The quantification average of M. smithii for the anorexic group was much greater than the lean and obese group. Thus, higher amounts of M. smithii were found in anorexic patients than lean patients.
The development of Methanobrevibacter in anorexic nervosa patients may be associated with an adaptive attempt towards optimal exploitation of the low caloric diet of anorexic patients. Hence, an increase in M. smithii leads to the optimization of food transformation in low caloric diets. M. smithii could also be related to constipation, a common condition for anorexic patients.[1]