Bacteria Are Our Friends

By: Galilea Morales

  

Figure: Bank vole (Myodes glareolus) is a rodent that is commonly found in woodland areas. It is found in most parts of Europe and is a native to Great Britain. The bank vole was used in this study by the researchers to determine if environmental radiation could affect their gut microbiome. Image © Roger Butterfield, 2007.

The average person may not know that we possess bacteria in our gut which make up our gut microbiota. We benefit from our gut microbiota because they help with digestion, our immune system, etc. Our gut microbiome can be affected through a number of different things, including the environment. When conducting research on the gut microbiota of animals and humans, pollution by radiation has never been taken into consideration; therefore, Lavrinienko and colleagues focused on how environmental pollution may impact the gut microbiota of the rodent bank vole.

A total of 137 bank voles were taken from three areas in the Ukraine that had different levels of environmental radiation. To determine whether their gut microbiome was impacted or not, a region of a gene from their gut microbiota was read. Lavrinienko and colleagues found almost no difference in the richness of gut community with increased exposure to radiation but did find an increase twice as numerous in the Firmicutes:Bacteroidetes ratio. Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes are two great taxonomic units, named phylum, under the domain Bacteria.

Changes in gut microbiota implement changes in their function as well. The environment has positive and negative health consequences on humans and animals; this study helps us acknowledge that.

Original Article:

Lavrinienko A, Mappes T, Tukalenko E, Mousseau T, Moller A, Knight R, Morton J, Thompson L, & Watts P. Environmental radiation alters the gut microbiome of the bank vole Myodes glareolus. The ISME Journal 2018; 12: 2801-2806.