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Published: Oct. 2, 2023, 5 a.m.

This episode: Certain phages in the gut are linked with increases in performance on some cognitive tests!

Download Episode\xa0(7.5 MB, 10.9 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Streptomyces bikiniensis

News item

Takeaways Our gut microbiota includes a large number of viruses, mostly bacteriophages. These fall into two groups, the lytic kind that infects and reproduces itself immediately in a host, and the lysogenic kind that can integrate its genome into the host bacterial genome and remain dormant for long periods.

In this study, a higher proportion of lysogenic phages was correlated with increased performance on cognitive tests in multiple species. In humans, men showed a small increase in some tests and women in others. In mice and fruit flies, transplant or ingestion of phages was linked to increased memory performance. \xa0 Journal Paper:
Mayneris-Perxachs J, Castells-Nobau A, Arnoriaga-Rodr\xedguez M, Garre-Olmo J, Puig J, Ramos R, Mart\xednez-Hern\xe1ndez F, Burokas A, Coll C, Moreno-Navarrete JM, Zapata-Tona C, Pedraza S, P\xe9rez-Brocal V, Rami\xf3-Torrent\xe0 L, Ricart W, Moya A, Mart\xednez-Garc\xeda M, Maldonado R, Fern\xe1ndez-Real J-M. 2022. Caudovirales bacteriophages are associated with improved executive function and memory in flies, mice, and humans. Cell Host Microbe 30:340-356.e8.

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