The microbiome’s fiber degradation profile and its relationship with the host diet

The relationship between the gut microbiome and diet has been the focus of numerous recent studies. Such studies aim to characterize the impact of diet on the composition of the microbiome, as well as the microbiome’s ability to utilize various compounds in the diet and produce metabolites that may be beneficial for the host. Consumption of dietary fibers (DFs)—polysaccharides that cannot be broken down by the host’s endogenous enzymes and are degraded primarily by members of the microbiome—is known to have a profound effect on the microbiome. Yet, a comprehensive characterization of microbiome compositional and functional shifts in response to the consumption of specific DFs is still lacking.