A Hadza-enriched Prevotella/Segatella xyloglucanase shows sequence conservation and functional specialization
Marie Louise Jespersen, Kamilla Kjærgaard Munk, Sune Fjermedal, Bo Pilgaard, Anne S Meyer, Frank M Aarestrup, Saria Otani · 2026
Read A Hadza-enriched Prevotella/Segatella xyloglucanase shows sequence conservation and functional specialization by Marie Louise Jespersen, Kamilla Kjærgaard Munk, Sune Fjermedal, Bo Pilgaard, Anne S Meyer, Frank M Aarestrup, Saria Otani (2026) in the Tower of Babel, a free online library of public-domain works preserved in clean, searchable text. No sign-up. The full text is served as a plain-text file at a predictable URL, where text is present: https://antarctic-labs.com/tower-of-babel/pmc-13182958.txt.
Description
Marie Louise Jespersen and co-authors present a 2026 study of a gut microbe enzyme in the Hadza people of Tanzania. Gut microbes adapt to what their hosts eat, and diets rich in plant fibers favor microbes with tools to break those fibers down. The team asked whether that pressure also shapes single gene sequences, not just microbe counts.
They built genomes from stool samples across hominid groups and found one species split sharply by host. One enzyme gene, which cuts a plant fiber found in leaves and stems, varied in step with host group. Lab checks showed the variants differ in function, a sign of fine-tuned adaptation to diet.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Marie Louise Jespersen, Kamilla Kjærgaard Munk, Sune Fjermedal, Bo Pilgaard, Anne S Meyer, Frank M Aarestrup, Saria Otani |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 45 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | CC BY 4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |