Bethany Rice

• BSc (Hons) Biomedical Sciences
• How does Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron degrade yeast mannan and can it utilise Candida mannan as a food source?

The human intestine is colonized by Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron, a majorbacteria in the microbiota that impacts upon health by interacting with our immune system. Their enzymes, encoded in DNA sequences called PULs, degrade carbohydrates. This project explored B.thetaiotaomicron’s unidentifiedability to degradethrush carbohydrates in the intestine, resulting in the theory that a new PUL must be encoded for B.thetaiotaomicron to use thrush for nutrients. The second aim was unsuccessful in creating a B.thetaiotaomicron yeast mannan degrading enzyme mixture, to help understand the degradation mechanism.

This research is critical to develop strategies to modulate the microbiota to prevent intestine-linked diseases.

Project Supervisor: Prof Harry John Gilbert, Institute for Cell & Molecular Biosciences

 Funding source: Wellcome Trust