Dietary Fructose and Microbiota-Derived Short-Chain Fatty Acids Promote Bacteriophage Production in the Gut Symbiont Lactobacillus reuteri (Cell Host & Microbe)

Oh et al. discover that the central carbon metabolism of the gut symbiont Lactobacillus reuteri is intimately connected to phage production. Dietary fructose or exposure to SCFAs activates the Ack pathway in Lactobacillus reuteri, which evokes a global stress response in the bacterium that consequently leads to increased phage production.