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Bacteroides-Desulfovibrio Carrageenan H2S Coculture

Community ID CommunityMech:000464
Ecological State ENGINEERED
Environment in vitro carrageenan gut-bacterium coculture — ontology label: laboratory environment
ENVO:01001405 · HabitatMech ↗
Modeled Environment human gut environment — ontology label: intestine environment
ENVO:2100002 · HabitatMech ↗

A defined in vitro two-species human-gut bacterial coculture in which Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron degrades carrageenan, releases inorganic sulfate, and fuels dissimilatory sulfate reduction and hydrogen sulfide production by Desulfovibrio desulfuricans.

Taxonomy

Taxon Ontology ID Functional Roles Abundance
Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron NCBITaxon:818 · TaxonMech · TraitMech
PRIMARY_DEGRADER CROSS_FEEDER
N/A
  • PMID:42565261 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "This study elucidated a syntrophic pathway wherein Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron (B. theta) degrades CGN via specific sulfatases and glycoside hydrolases, releasing inorganic sulfate."
  • PMID:42565261 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "Transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses revealed that CGN, particularly κ-type, upregulated B. theta genes encoding key desulfation and depolymerization enzymes."
Desulfovibrio desulfuricans NCBITaxon:876 · TaxonMech · TraitMech
CROSS_FEEDER SYNTROPHIC_PARTNER
N/A
  • PMID:42565261 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "This sulfate fuels the growth and metabolic activity of the sulfate-reducing bacterium Desulfovibrio desulfuricans (D. desulfuricans)."
  • PMID:42565261 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "D. desulfuricans showed increased expression of genes in the dissimilatory sulfate reduction pathway (sat, aprAB, dsr), accompanied by marked accumulation of pathway intermediates and H2S."

Ecological Interactions

The graph shows only explicitly linked interaction participants. Community members without an asserted participant link are omitted; membership alone does not imply an interaction.

Ecological interaction network for Bacteroides-Desulfovibrio Carrageenan H2S Coculture Bipartite graph where circles represent taxa and non-circular symbols represent interactions, with distinct shapes and colours for cross-feeding. Rare or untyped interactions share the Other symbol; exact curated types remain in the interaction details.
Taxon
Cross-feeding
Other

Carrageenan sulfate cross-feeding

CROSS_FEEDING

Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron desulfates and depolymerizes carrageenan, releasing inorganic sulfate that fuels Desulfovibrio desulfuricans sulfate-reduction metabolism and increases hydrogen sulfide output in vitro.

Source Taxon: Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron

Target Taxon: Desulfovibrio desulfuricans

Metabolites: sulfate (CHEBI:16189 · MediaIngredientMech · CMMMech), hydrogen sulfide (CHEBI:16136 · MediaIngredientMech · CMMMech)

Biological Processes:

Evidence

  • PMID:42565261 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "This study elucidated a syntrophic pathway wherein Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron (B. theta) degrades CGN via specific sulfatases and glycoside hydrolases, releasing inorganic sulfate."
  • PMID:42565261 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "This sulfate fuels the growth and metabolic activity of the sulfate-reducing bacterium Desulfovibrio desulfuricans (D. desulfuricans)."
  • PMID:42565261 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "In vitro co-culture experiments demonstrated that this cross-feeding interaction significantly enhanced hydrogen sulfide (H2S) production."
  • PMID:42565261 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "D. desulfuricans showed increased expression of genes in the dissimilatory sulfate reduction pathway (sat, aprAB, dsr), accompanied by marked accumulation of pathway intermediates and H2S."

Co-culture metabolic remodeling

The carrageenan-mediated two-species co-culture altered glycerophospholipid metabolism and inhibited bacterial cysteine synthesis, indicating a community-level metabolic response beyond sulfur flux.

Biological Processes:

Evidence

  • PMID:42565261 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "Furthermore, co-culture altered microbial glycerophospholipid metabolism and inhibited bacterial cysteine synthesis."

Knowledge gaps & discussions (1)

KNOWLEDGE_GAP OPEN Resolve the Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron and Desulfovibrio desulfuricans strain accessions, anaerobic medium formulation, carrageenan concentration and type series, incubation time, vessel geometry, and transcriptomic or metabolomic dataset accessions from the version of record.

The PubMed-indexed abstract names both species, carrageenan-mediated sulfate release, Desulfovibrio dissimilatory sulfate reduction, transcriptomic/metabolomic analysis, and enhanced in vitro H2S production. It does not identify the strain accessions, growth medium, CGN dose, incubation time, or omics data accessions.

Attaches to: taxonomy, environmental_factors, cultivation_setup

External Resources

Name Repository Resource ID
PubMed entry for the Bacteroides-Desulfovibrio carrageenan coculture
PubMed record for Nian et al. 2026. 		OTHER PMID:42565261
  • PMID:42565261 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "Desulfation of carrageenan by Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron fuels hydrogen sulfide production by Desulfovibrio desulfuricans."
DOI for the Bacteroides-Desulfovibrio carrageenan coculture article
Version-of-record DOI for Nian et al. 2026. 		OTHER doi:10.1039/d6fo01013j

Environmental Factors

Factor Value Unit
carrageenan-driven sulfate release CGN, particularly kappa-type carrageenan N/A
  • PMID:42565261 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "This study elucidated a syntrophic pathway wherein Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron (B. theta) degrades CGN via specific sulfatases and glycoside hydrolases, releasing inorganic sulfate."
  • PMID:42565261 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "Transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses revealed that CGN, particularly κ-type, upregulated B. theta genes encoding key desulfation and depolymerization enzymes."

Cross-Mech Suite Links

Explore related entities across the CultureBotAI X-Mech knowledge bases:

HabitatMech: in vitro carrageenan gut-bacterium coculture ↗ TaxonMech: Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron ↗ TraitMech: Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron ↗ TaxonMech: Desulfovibrio desulfuricans ↗ TraitMech: Desulfovibrio desulfuricans ↗ CultureMech Growth Media ↗ PathwayMech Pathways ↗