↓ Skip to main content

Molecular basis of an agarose metabolic pathway acquired by a human intestinal symbiont

Overview of attention for article published in Nature Communications, March 2018
Altmetric Badge

About this Attention Score

  • In the top 5% of all research outputs scored by Altmetric
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age (95th percentile)
  • Good Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age and source (77th percentile)

Mentioned by

news
7 news outlets
blogs
1 blog
twitter
10 X users

Citations

dimensions_citation
88 Dimensions

Readers on

mendeley
100 Mendeley
You are seeing a free-to-access but limited selection of the activity Altmetric has collected about this research output. Click here to find out more.
Title
Molecular basis of an agarose metabolic pathway acquired by a human intestinal symbiont
Published in
Nature Communications, March 2018
DOI 10.1038/s41467-018-03366-x
Pubmed ID
Authors

Benjamin Pluvinage, Julie M. Grondin, Carolyn Amundsen, Leeann Klassen, Paul E. Moote, Yao Xiao, Dallas Thomas, Nicholas A. Pudlo, Anuoluwapo Anele, Eric C. Martens, G. Douglas Inglis, Richard E. R. Uwiera, Alisdair B. Boraston, D. Wade Abbott

Abstract

In red algae, the most abundant principal cell wall polysaccharides are mixed galactan agars, of which agarose is a common component. While bioconversion of agarose is predominantly catalyzed by bacteria that live in the oceans, agarases have been discovered in microorganisms that inhabit diverse terrestrial ecosystems, including human intestines. Here we comprehensively define the structure-function relationship of the agarolytic pathway from the human intestinal bacterium Bacteroides uniformis (Bu) NP1. Using recombinant agarases from Bu NP1 to completely depolymerize agarose, we demonstrate that a non-agarolytic Bu strain can grow on GAL released from agarose. This relationship underscores that rare nutrient utilization by intestinal bacteria is facilitated by the acquisition of highly specific enzymes that unlock inaccessible carbohydrate resources contained within unusual polysaccharides. Intriguingly, the agarolytic pathway is differentially distributed throughout geographically distinct human microbiomes, reflecting a complex historical context for agarose consumption by human beings.

X Demographics

X Demographics

The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 10 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 100 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
Unknown 100 100%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Researcher 22 22%
Student > Ph. D. Student 19 19%
Student > Master 8 8%
Student > Bachelor 8 8%
Student > Doctoral Student 6 6%
Other 15 15%
Unknown 22 22%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology 32 32%
Agricultural and Biological Sciences 22 22%
Immunology and Microbiology 6 6%
Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutical Science 3 3%
Nursing and Health Professions 3 3%
Other 8 8%
Unknown 26 26%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 71. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 15 January 2023.
All research outputs
#593,506
of 25,171,799 outputs
Outputs from Nature Communications
#10,215
of 55,610 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#13,714
of 339,668 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Nature Communications
#280
of 1,224 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,171,799 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 97th percentile: it's in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 55,610 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 55.9. This one has done well, scoring higher than 81% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 339,668 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 95% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 1,224 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done well, scoring higher than 77% of its contemporaries.