Microbial extracellular electron transfer in the human gastrointestinal tract

Microbial extracellular electron transfer in the human gastrointestinal tract Gratian Ting and Arpita Bose from Washington University in St. Louis discuss the fascinating role that extracellular electron transfer plays within the human gut. The human gut microbiome contains around hundreds of trillions of bacteria, and a great diversity of species. In fact, the number of bacteria in the human gut is similar in number to all the cells in the human body, further signifying the heterogeneity and significance of this microbiota. The habitat filtering of the human gut, defined as the non-random survival of microorganisms in relation to characteristics of the surrounding environment, is influenced by two important factors: host and diet. Disruption of normal host gut processes through various means, could cause cell death and dysbiosis, disrupting host-mediated habitat filtering. However, diet plays a far more common role in this process. Different dietary behaviors exist between individuals from cultural, moral, economic, and other means.