Intestinal microbiota can provide protection against invading pathogens through competition for resources and production of specific antimicrobial products. But disruption of the microbiota with antibiotics can contribute to the emergence of several enteric pathogens. Justin Sonnenburg and colleagues show here that two antibiotic-associated pathogens,Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium and Clostridium difficile, catabolize microbiota-liberated host sugars to fuel their growth in the mouse gut. In particular, the ability to utilize sialic acid cleaved from host polysaccharides by Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron is important for pathogen expansion. These findings identify a role for the gut microbiota in facilitating enteric pathogen infection and provide new options for developing therapeutics.
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