Inflammation

Bacteroides

Biochemistry

Receptor

Sphingosine

Gut flora

Sphingolipid

Microbiology

Bacteria

Bioinformatics

Biology

Apoptosis

Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron

Cell biology

Metabolomics

Lipid signaling

Ceramide

Immunology

Genetics

Cell Host & Microbe

In this issue, Brown et al. discover a number of bacterial sphingolipid metabolites and demonstrate that sphingolipid production by Bacteroides species in the gut microbiome promotes symbiosis with the host. Bacterial sphingolipid deficiency correlates with inflammatory bowel disease and increased host-produced sphingolipid abundance in the human intestine.

Bacteroides-Derived Sphingolipids Are Critical for Maintaining Intestinal Homeostasis and Symbiosis