437: Balmy Bacteria Build Bone
Released: Nov 9, 2020
This episode: Warmth helps mice build stronger bones, mediated by bacteria producing certain compounds!
Download Episode (6.8 MB, 9.9 minutes)
Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Aquaspirillum serpens
News item Takeaways Bones aren't just solid, structural supports for the body's tissues. They're active and alive, housing important components of the immune system, and also capable of being broken down and built up in response to changes in the body's interactions with the environment. Various things can affect bone mass and health, including nutrition, temperature, age, and even the body's microbes. In this study, two of these effects are found to interact. Warmth leads to increased bone density in mice, and this effect can be attributed to the microbes in the mice, and transmitted from one mouse to another just by transplanting microbes adapted to warmth. Even the particular chemicals the microbes produce that mediate this effect are discovered.
Journal Paper: Chevalier C, Kieser S, Çolakoğlu M, Hadadi N, Brun J, Rigo D, Suárez-Zamorano N, Spiljar M, Fabbiano S, Busse B, Ivanišević J, Macpherson A, Bonnet N, Trajkovski M. 2020.
Warmth Prevents Bone Loss Through the Gut Microbiota. Cell Metab 32:575-590.e7.
Other interesting stories:
Salt-tolerant bacteria could help plants grow in coastal areas (paper)
Fire ants like to nest near potentially antifungal bacteria
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