The human body is colonized by trillions of microbes that exert a profound influence over human health, in part by providing functional capabilities that extend beyond those of host cells. There is growing evidence that chemical processes associated with these organisms, particularly inhabitants of the gastrointestinal tract, affect human biology. However, we still do not understand the vast majority of the molecular mechanisms underlying this phenomenon. A major reason for this knowledge gap is the difficulty linking functions associated with the gut microbiota to specific microbial genes and organisms. This talk will discuss my lab’s efforts to use chemical knowledge to guide the discovery and characterization of new gut microbial enzymes and metabolic pathways, including reactions that produce disease-associated microbial metabolites and modify the structures and activities of clinically used drugs. An understanding of the genetic and biochemical bases of these activities is not only helping us to elucidate the mechanisms by which they affect the human body but will also aid future efforts to manipulate gut microbial communities to treat and prevent disease.

Deciphering the human gut microbiota with chemistry

256th National Meeting (2018)

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