The Fungus Among Us

The microbiome is made up of a variety of microbes. I tend to focus on the bacteria because that’s where the bulk of the research exists, but there are more microbes in and on us such as fungi, protozoa, and viruses. A recent paper provided some interesting insight into one category of microbes: the fungi, also called the mycobiome. I loved this research paper; the methodology is extremely complex, but the logic of the questions they lined up and answered was fantastic.

Researchers began with the most basic question: Are the microbiomes, including the fungi, the same when they purchase genetically identical mice from four different animal vendors? It turns out the answer is no. While the core fungi were similar, they each had subtle differences in types of fungal colonies. That means when used in research, although genetically identical, the growing environment was different enough to potentially influence outcomes when using some form of dietary intervention.

What does that mean for human research? Research using dietary changes could be impacted by the microbial differences. The researchers tested that concept, and I’ll talk about that on Saturday.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

P.S. Members and Insiders: check out the latest Straight Talk on Health covering melatonin and memory, and a dog’s microbiome. Be sure to go to membership log in first.

Reference: Comm Bio (2021).4:281 https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-021-01820-z