The Common Gut Microbe Eubacterium hallii also Contributes to Intestinal Propionate Formation
Open accessAbstract
Eubacterium hallii is considered an important microbe in regard to intestinal metabolic balance due to its ability to utilize glucose and the fermentation intermediates acetate and lactate, to form butyrate and hydrogen. Recently, we observed that E. hallii is capable of metabolizing glycerol to 3-hydroxypropionaldehyde (3-HPA, reuterin) with reported antimicrobial properties. The key enzyme for glycerol to 3-HPA conversion is the cobalamin-dependent glycerol/diol dehydratase PduCDE which also utilizes 1,2-propanediol (1,2-PD) to form propionate. Therefore our primary goal was to investigate glycerol to 3-HPA metabolism and 1,2-PD utilization by E. hallii along with its ability to produce cobalamin. We also investigated the relative abundance of E. hallii in stool of adults using 16S rRNA and pduCDE based gene screening to determine the contribution of E. hallii to intestinal propionate formation. We found that E. hallii utilizes glycerol to produce up to 9 mM 3-HPA but did not further metabolize 3-HPA to 1,3-propanediol. Utilization of 1,2-PD in the presence and absence of glucose led to the formation of propanal, propanol and propionate. E. hallii formed cobalamin and was detected in stool of 74% of adults using 16S rRNA gene as marker gene (n = 325). Relative abundance of the E. hallii 16S rRNA gene ranged from 0 to 0.59% with a mean relative abundance of 0.044%. E. hallii PduCDE was detected in 63 to 81% of the metagenomes depending on which subunit was investigated beside other taxons such as Ruminococcus obeum, R. gnavus, Flavonifractor plautii, Intestinimonas butyriciproducens, and Veillonella spp. In conclusion, we identified E. hallii as a common gut microbe with the ability to convert glycerol to 3-HPA, a step that requires the production of cobalamin, and to utilize 1,2-PD to form propionate. Our results along with its ability to use a broad range of substrates point at E. hallii as a key species within the intestinal trophic chain with the potential to highly impact the metabolic balance as well as the gut microbiota/host homeostasis by the formation of different short chain fatty acids.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Depletion of Eubacterium hallii and increased soluble CD25 was associated with death or heart transplantation.
“Lastly, in their small cohort, the authors found that depletion of Eubacterium hallii94, another important commensal SCFA producer, and increased soluble CD25, was associated with death or heart transplantation.”
From Dietary metabolism, the gut microbiome, and heart failure (2019) · cites this paper as [94]
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
The SILVA ribosomal RNA gene database project: improved data processing and web-based tools
Quast, C., Pruesse, E., Yilmaz, P., Gerken, J., Schweer, T., Yarza, P., Peplies, J., & Glöckner, F. O. (2012) · Nucleic Acids Research · doi:10.1093/nar/gks1219 · Cited by 33,055 · see citing works
Fast and sensitive protein alignment using DIAMOND
Buchfink, B., Xie, C., & Huson, D. H. (2015) · Nature Methods · doi:10.1038/nmeth.3176 · Cited by 14,201 · see citing works
Structure, function and diversity of the healthy human microbiome
The Human Microbiome Project Consortium (2012) · Nature · doi:10.1038/nature11234 · Cited by 11,726 · see citing works
Pruitt, K. D., Tatusova, T. A., & Maglott, D. R. (2006) · Nucleic Acids Research · doi:10.1093/nar/gkl842 · Cited by 4,441 · see citing works
The gut microbiota, bacterial metabolites and colorectal cancer
Louis, P., Hold, G. L., & Flint, H. J. (2014) · Nature Reviews Microbiology · doi:10.1038/nrmicro3344 · Cited by 2,836 · see citing works
Colonic Health: Fermentation and Short Chain Fatty Acids
Wong, J. M. W., de Souza, R., Kendall, C. W. C., Emam, A., & Jenkins, D. J. A. (2006) · Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology · doi:10.1097/00004836-200603000-00015 · Cited by 2,739 · see citing works
Integrative analysis of environmental sequences using MEGAN4Preprint
Huson, D. H., Mitra, S., Ruscheweyh, H., Weber, N., & Schuster, S. C. (2011) · Genome Research · doi:10.1101/gr.120618.111 · Cited by 1,534 · see citing works
Self-citationThrough Ageing, and Beyond: Gut Microbiota and Inflammatory Status in Seniors and Centenarians
Biagi, E., Nylund, L., Candela, M., Ostan, R., Bucci, L., Pini, E., Nikkïla, J., Monti, D., Satokari, R., Franceschi, C., et al. (2010) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0010667 · Cited by 1,483 · see citing works
Reichardt, N., Duncan, S. H., Young, P., Belenguer, Á., Leitch, E. C. M., Scott, K. P., Flint, H. J., & Louis, P. (2014) · The ISME Journal · doi:10.1038/ismej.2014.14 · Cited by 1,302 · see citing works
Duncan, S. H., Louis, P., & Flint, H. J. (2004) · Applied and Environmental Microbiology · doi:10.1128/aem.70.10.5810-5817.2004 · Cited by 1,124 · see citing works
Gänzle, M. G. (2015) · Current Opinion in Food Science · doi:10.1016/j.cofs.2015.03.001 · Cited by 936 · see citing works
Gut microbiota–generated metabolites in animal health and disease
Lee, W.-J., & Hase, K. (2014) · Nature Chemical Biology · doi:10.1038/nchembio.1535 · Cited by 756 · see citing works
Walter, J. (2008) · Applied and Environmental Microbiology · doi:10.1128/aem.00753-08 · Cited by 756 · see citing works
Stadtman, T. C. (1971) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.171.3974.859 · Cited by 543 · see citing works
Vitamin B 12 as a Modulator of Gut Microbial Ecology
Degnan, P. H., Taga, M. E., & Goodman, A. L. (2014) · Cell Metabolism · doi:10.1016/j.cmet.2014.10.002 · Cited by 493 · see citing works
Prebiotic stimulation of human colonic butyrate-producing bacteria and bifidobacteria,in vitro
Scott, K. P., Martin, J. C., Duncan, S. H., & Flint, H. J. (2013) · FEMS Microbiology Ecology · doi:10.1111/1574-6941.12186 · Cited by 452 · see citing works
Microbial butyrate and its role for barrier function in the gastrointestinal tract
Plöger, S., Stumpff, F., Penner, G. B., Schulzke, J., Gäbel, G., Märtens, H., Shen, Z., Günzel, D., & Aschenbach, J. R. (2012) · Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1111/j.1749-6632.2012.06553.x · Cited by 445 · see citing works
Hold, G. L., Schwiertz, A., Aminov, R. I., Blaut, M., & Flint, H. J. (2003) · Applied and Environmental Microbiology · doi:10.1128/aem.69.7.4320-4324.2003 · Cited by 350 · see citing works
Utilisation of Mucin Glycans by the Human Gut Symbiont Ruminococcus gnavus Is Strain-Dependent
Crost, E. H., Tailford, L. E., Gall, G. L., Fons, M., Henrissat, B., & Juge, N. (2013) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0076341 · Cited by 315 · see citing works
Schaefer, L., Auchtung, T. A., Hermans, K. E., Whitehead, D., Borhan, B., & Britton, R. A. (2010) · Microbiology · doi:10.1099/mic.0.035642-0 · Cited by 310 · see citing works
The Evolution of Host Specialization in the Vertebrate Gut Symbiont Lactobacillus reuteri
Frese, S. A., Benson, A. K., Tannock, G. W., Loach, D. M., Kim, J., Zhang, M., Oh, P. L., Heng, N. C. K., Patil, P. B., Juge, N., et al. (2011) · PLoS Genetics · doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.1001314 · Cited by 309 · see citing works
Morita, H., Toh, H., Fukuda, S., Horikawa, H., Oshima, K., Suzuki, T., Murakami, M., Hisamatsu, S., Kato, Y., Takizawa, T., et al. (2008) · DNA Research · doi:10.1093/dnares/dsn009 · Cited by 305 · see citing works
Degnan, P. H., Barry, N. A., Mok, K. C., Taga, M. E., & Goodman, A. L. (2014) · Cell Host & Microbe · doi:10.1016/j.chom.2013.12.007 · Cited by 283 · see citing works
Scott, K. P., Martin, J. C., Campbell, G. P., Mayer, C., & Flint, H. J. (2006) · Journal of Bacteriology · doi:10.1128/jb.00137-06 · Cited by 282 · see citing works
Cleusix, V., Lacroix, C., Vollenweider, S., Duboux, M., & Blay, G. L. (2007) · BMC Microbiology · doi:10.1186/1471-2180-7-101 · Cited by 271 · see citing works
Self-citationOligosaccharide structures of human colonic mucin.
Podolsky, D. K. (1985) · Journal of Biological Chemistry · doi:10.1016/s0021-9258(17)39465-6 · Cited by 257 · see citing works
3-Hydroxypropionaldehyde: applications and perspectives of biotechnological production
Vollenweider, S., & Lacroix, C. (2004) · Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology · doi:10.1007/s00253-003-1497-y · Cited by 230 · see citing works
Self-citationCasas, I. A., & Dobrogosz, W. J. (2000) · Microbial Ecology in Health and Disease · doi:10.1080/08910600050216246-1 · Cited by 228 · see citing works
Carbohydrates and the human gut microbiota
Chassard, C., & Lacroix, C. (2013) · Current Opinion in Clinical Nutrition & Metabolic Care · doi:10.1097/mco.0b013e3283619e63 · Cited by 188 · see citing works
Self-citationSriramulu, D. D., Liang, M., Hernandez-Romero, D., Raux-Deery, E., Lünsdorf, H., Parsons, J. B., Warren, M. J., & Prentice, M. B. (2008) · Journal of Bacteriology · doi:10.1128/jb.01535-07 · Cited by 166 · see citing works
Microbial production and applications of 1,2-propanediol
Saxena, R. K., Anand, P., Saran, S., Isar, J., & Agarwal, L. (2010) · Indian Journal of Microbiology · doi:10.1007/s12088-010-0017-x · Cited by 147 · see citing works
Kläring, K., Hanske, L., Bui, T. P. N., Charrier, C., Blaut, M., Haller, D., Plugge, C. M., & Clavel, T. (2013) · INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SYSTEMATIC AND EVOLUTIONARY MICROBIOLOGY · doi:10.1099/ijs.0.051441-0 · Cited by 125 · see citing works
Effect of glucose on glycerol bioconversion by Lactobacillus reuteri
thi-Peng, Q. L. X. F., Dileme, F., & Puhan, Z. (2002) · Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology · doi:10.1007/s00253-002-1002-z · Cited by 124 · see citing works
Purification and Structural Characterization of 3-Hydroxypropionaldehyde and Its Derivatives
Vollenweider, S., Grassi, G., König, I., & Puhan, Z. (2003) · Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry · doi:10.1021/jf021086d · Cited by 121 · see citing works
The complete coenzyme B12 biosynthesis gene cluster of Lactobacillus reuteri CRL1098
dos Santos, F. B., Vera, J. L., van der Heijden, R. T. J. M., de Valdez, G. F., de Vos, W. M., Sesma, F. J. M., & Hugenholtz, J. (2008) · Microbiology · doi:10.1099/mic.0.2007/011569-0 · Cited by 113 · see citing works
Angelis, M. D., Bottacini, F., Fosso, B., Kelleher, P., Calasso, M. P., Cagno, R. D., Ventura, M., Picardi, E., van Sinderen, D., & Gobbetti, M. (2014) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0107232 · Cited by 108 · see citing works
Boronat, A., & Aguilar, J. (1981) · Journal of Bacteriology · doi:10.1128/jb.147.1.181-185.1981 · Cited by 78 · see citing works
Faecal DL-Lactate Concentration in 100 Gastrointestinal Patients
Hove, H., Nordgaard-Andersen, I., & Mortensen, P. B. (1994) · Scandinavian Journal of Gastroenterology · doi:10.3109/00365529409090473 · Cited by 78 · see citing works
Vollenweider, S., Evers, S., Zurbriggen, K., & Lacroix, C. (2010) · Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry · doi:10.1021/jf1010897 · Cited by 75 · see citing works
Self-citationIn situ reuterin production by Lactobacillus reuteri in dairy products
Langa, S., Landete, J. M., Martín‐Cabrejas, I., Rodrı́guez, E., Arqués, J. L., & Médina, M. (2013) · Food Control · doi:10.1016/j.foodcont.2013.02.035 · Cited by 70 · see citing works
Fekry, M. I., Engels, C., Zhang, J., Schwab, C., Lacroix, C., Sturla, S. J., & Chassard, C. (2015) · Environmental Microbiology Reports · doi:10.1111/1758-2229.12369 · Cited by 70 · see citing works
Self-citation
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Formation of propionate and butyrate by the human colonic microbiota
Louis, P., & Flint, H. J. (2017) · Environmental Microbiology · doi:10.1111/1462-2920.13589 · Cited by 3,028 · see citing works
Dietary metabolism, the gut microbiome, and heart failure
Tang, W. H. W., Li, D. Y., & Hazen, S. L. (2019) · Nature Reviews Cardiology · doi:10.1038/s41569-018-0108-7 · Cited by 789 · see citing works
Bedarf, J. R., Hildebrand, F., Coelho, L. P., Sunagawa, S., Bahram, M., Goeser, F., Bork, P., & Wüllner, U. (2017) · Genome Medicine · doi:10.1186/s13073-017-0428-y · Cited by 642 · see citing works
Nondigestible carbohydrates, butyrate, and butyrate-producing bacteria
Fu, X., Liu, Z., Zhu, C., Mou, H., & Kong, Q. (2019) · Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition · doi:10.1080/10408398.2018.1542587 · Cited by 497 · see citing works
Reichardt, N., Vollmer, M., Holtrop, G., Farquharson, F. M., Wefers, D., Bunzel, M., Duncan, S. H., Drew, J. E., Williams, L. M., Milligan, G., et al. (2018) · The ISME Journal · doi:10.1038/ismej.2017.196 · Cited by 249 · see citing works
Jang, L.-G., Choi, G., Kim, S.-W., Kim, B.-Y., Lee, S., & Park, H. (2019) · Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition · doi:10.1186/s12970-019-0290-y · Cited by 224 · see citing works
Wasser, C. I., Mercieca, E.-C., Kong, G., Hannan, A. J., McKeown, S. J., Glikmann-Johnston, Y., & Stout, J. C. (2020) · Brain Communications · doi:10.1093/braincomms/fcaa110 · Cited by 198 · see citing works
El Hage, R., Hernandez-Sanabria, E., & Van de Wiele, T. (2017) · Frontiers in Microbiology · doi:10.3389/fmicb.2017.01889 · Cited by 185 · see citing works
Bircher, L., Geirnaert, A., Hammes, F., Lacroix, C., & Schwab, C. (2018) · Microbial Biotechnology · doi:10.1111/1751-7915.13265 · Cited by 142 · see citing works
Self-citationStructural and functional characterization of the gut microbiota in elderly women with migraine
Chen, J., Wang, Q., Wang, A., & Lin, Z. (2020) · Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology · doi:10.3389/fcimb.2019.00470 · Cited by 89 · see citing works
- Authors
- Engels, C., Ruscheweyh, H.-J., Beerenwinkel, N., Lacroix, C., & Schwab, C.
- Affiliations
- ETH Zurich (CH)
- SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics (CH)
- Corresponding author
- Schwab, Clarissa
- Venue
- Frontiers in Microbiology
- Publisher
- Frontiers Media SA
- Published
- 2016-05-19
- Volume
- 7
- Pages
- 713-713
- ISSN
- 1664-302X (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC4871866
- OpenAlex
- W2403137787
- Cited by
- 372
- References
- 41
- Citations by year
- 2026: 26 · 2025: 43 · 2024: 43 · 2023: 58 · 2022: 50 · 2021: 47 · 2020: 32 · 2019: 31 · 2018: 18 · 2017: 19 · 2016: 5
- FWCI
- 12.65
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by
- Locations
- Frontiers in Microbiology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Repository for Publications and Research Data (ETH Zurich) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- ETH Zürich Research Collection (cc-by)
- Funders
- Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich (BioControl)
- European Research Council (MERiC)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Gut microbiota and health
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Food Science › Probiotics and Fermented Foods
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Animal Science and Zoology › Animal Nutrition and Physiology
- Keywords
- Eubacterium hallii, 3-hydroxypropionaldehyde, reuterin, glycerol metabolism, vitamin B12, gut microbiota, 16S rRNA gene abundance, metagenomics, butyrate, hydrogen production, 1,3-propanediol
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
