This paper is being examined to start to answer the question of why Akkermansia mucinophila is such a good, health promoting probiotic. If this microbe is an obligate anaerobe, what is the terminal electron acceptor? Is it something bad like sulfate giving the product of hydrogen sulfide? Maybe it is just plain, boring TCA cycle intermediate fumarate. This Finnish and Dutch collaboration, with Dr Carol Velzer as the corresponding author, argues that if this microbe colonizes the mucus layer, the conditions are not truly anaerobic. How do these bacteria compensate to the small amounts of oxygen? What cassettes of normal anaerobic environment genes get turned off? The sulfate reduction genes turned off during the transition from anaerobic to aerobic growth have far reaching implications not only for propionate production but also the use of sulfur containing compounds as preservatives.
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