# Physiology of bacterial metabolism in the human gut microbiome

> **NIH NIH R35** · STANFORD UNIVERSITY · 2021 · $397,378

## Abstract

Summary:
One of the biggest gaps in our knowledge of the human gut microbiome is how microbes secure the energy
and nutrients required to sustain their growth. This is an important deficit in light of the fact that microbial
pathways produce short chain fatty acids like butyrate, indoles like indolepropionic acid, and amines like
trimethylamine, all of which play a critical role in host physiology and disease. Understanding the metabolic
processes that underlie why microbes make these molecules is critical for developing strategies to predictably
control the metabolic output of the gut microbiota.
Despite the importance of microbial metabolism in the gut to human physiology, we know very little about the
nature of these metabolic pathways. A key gap in knowledge is how pathways for high abundance metabolites
is linked to the physiology of commensal bacteria. Knowledge of these metabolic strategies is critical to
developing strategies aimed at predictably modulating the metabolic output of the gut microbiota. One of the
major challenges to studying the gut microbiota is that genetic tools are only available for a small subset of
bacteria. Therefore, new tools are urgently needed to study the physiology and metabolism of genetically
intractable microbes.
In this project, we will use techniques in bacterial physiology and genetics to uncover how microbes in the gut
capture energy from dietary nutrients, and how these processes contribute to drug-like small molecules that
influence host physiology. We will also develop a new metabolomics approach to generate genome-wide maps
of genetic determinants of microbial small molecules in genetically tractable and intractable gut bacteria. These
studies will provide fundamental insights into several of the microbiome's core functions and will stimulate
future avenues for inquiry into the human gut microbiome.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10275848
- **Project number:** 1R35GM142873-01
- **Recipient organization:** STANFORD UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Dylan Dodd
- **Activity code:** R35 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $397,378
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-08-02 → 2026-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10275848

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10275848, Physiology of bacterial metabolism in the human gut microbiome (1R35GM142873-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10275848. Licensed CC0.

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