PR002452 (Project)

Description:In contrast to the facultative pathogens, ETBF is canonically classified as an obligate anaerobe that is susceptible to oxygen toxicity and reliant on anaerobic fermentation for energy production. How ETBF successfully colonizes the inflamed gut, an environment enriched in oxygen and inflammatory mediators46, has remained unclear. Here, we demonstrate that ETBF leverages its virulence factor BFT to reprogram epithelial cell metabolism, thereby reshaping the gut nutritional landscape. This reprogramming leads to increased levels of lactate and oxygen, which fuel ETBF's unique oxidative metabolism, challenging the long-standing view of B. fragilis as strictly anaerobic. Our findings uncover a novel mechanism by which an obligate anaerobe reshapes its environment to establish an oxidative metabolic niche and promote its own expansion in the inflamed gut.