The Spanish gut microbiome reveals links between microorganisms and Mediterranean diet.

Despite the increasing evidence of links between human gut and health, the number of gut microbiomes that have been studied to date at a country level are surprisingly low. Mediterranean countries, including some of the most long-lived and healthy countries in the world, have not been considered so far in those studies at a large scale. The main objective of this work is to characterize the gut microbiome of a healthy adult population of a Mediterranean, paradigmatically healthy country: Spain.

The effect of inulin and resistant maltodextrin on weight loss during energy restriction: a randomised, placebo-controlled, double-blinded intervention.

Purpose: The objective of this study was to investigate the additive effects of combining energy restriction with dietary fibres on change in body weight and gut microbiota composition.

Methods: The study was a 12-week randomised, placebo-controlled, double-blinded, parallel intervention trial. A total of 116 overweight or obese participants were assigned randomly either to 10 g inulin plus 10 g resistant maltodextrin or to 20 g of placebo supplementation through 400 mL of milk a day, while on a - 500 kcal/day energy restricted diet.

In silico prospection of microorganisms to produce polyhydroxyalkanoate from whey: Caulobacter segnis DSM 29236 as a suitable industrial strain.

Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are polyesters of microbial origin that can be synthesized by prokaryotes from noble sugars or lipids and from complex renewable substrates. They are an attractive alternative to conventional plastics because they are biodegradable and can be produced from renewable resources, such as the surplus of whey from dairy companies. After an in silico screening to search for ß-galactosidase and PHA polymerase genes, several bacteria were identified as potential PHA producers from whey based on their ability to hydrolyse lactose.