An isolated bacterium discovered in an Algerian cave might be a solution to wheat gluten sensitivity, found joint research by Sweden’s Umea University and Algeria’s Constantine University.
Gluten sensitivity is the body’s inability to digest or break down the gluten found in wheat and other grains. People with this digestive disorder are advised to consume gluten-free baked products. Yet, a discovery in an Algerian cave might offer another solution: a new gluten-breaking bacterium that could be used in baked goods, or in the form of a drug that treats gluten sensitivity.
In a recent study published in the journal Microbiology Spectrum, researchers isolated 250 bacteria extracted from sediment samples from 10 pristine caves on different depths in Algeria. Isolates showing nonpathogenic profiles were screened for their potential to produce digestive enzymes (gliadinase and beta-galactosidase) in solid and liquid media.
The probiotic potentialities were studied in four different conditions including growth at 37°C, survival in simulated gastric juice, survival in simulated intestinal fluid, and antibiotic sensitivity.
The results showed that out of 250 isolates, 13 isolates demonstrated nonpathogenic character, and probiotic potentialities (gluten break down ability). The discovered types of bacteria belong to a species called “Bacillus”, a bacteria group characterized with a great survival ability, and plays a key role in various contexts: it could be pathogenic in some, and beneficial for the ecosystems and biotechnology applications in others.
"The new strains can produce antimicrobial substances or that can break down gluten, a substance that can cause inflammatory reactions in the intestines of many people. The bacteria were also found to be able to tolerate the extreme conditions found in our digestive system," said Natuschka Lee, researcher at the Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences at Umeå University.
“Our findings confirm what Jules Verne wrote in his novel ‘Journey to the Center of the Earth’. Many people trivialized the wild fantasies surrounding the existence of life in the underworld, but biologists have recently begun to seriously explore life underground. Today, it is known that at least 30% of all microorganisms on earth live deep underground—under completely different conditions than the life forms on the earth's surface, for example without sunlight and thus without plants,” she added.
“Research into underground life forms can give us interesting information about how life can develop in different ways on Earth and whether there can be life in the underground on other celestial bodies, such as on the planet Mars,” Lee concluded.
