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Box 3 Ecological role of the Christensenellaceae in the human gut

From: The human gut bacteria Christensenellaceae are widespread, heritable, and associated with health

Based on Morotomi’s observations, C. minuta ferments glucose to acetate and butyrate under anaerobic conditions [7], which indicates it ferments sugars in the gut to short chain fatty acids and other fermentation products such as H2 and CO2. Goodrich et al. reported that the Christensenellaceae form the hub of a co-occurrence network with other microbiota, including methanogens (archaea of the family Methanobacteriaceae) [21]. Co-occurrence of Christensenellaceae and Methanobacteriaceae across individuals has been reported elsewhere [22, 23]. The Methanobacteriaceae include Methanobrevibacter smithii, the predominant methanogen in the human gut. Given that M. smithii uses fermentation products (e.g., H2 and CO2) to produce methane, the co-occurrence with Christensenellaceae may represent a H2-based syntrophy.