Plant‐based foods and the gut microbiome: A research profile of Franck Carbonero

Franck Carbonero, Assistant Professor of Nutrition, Department of Nutrition and Exercise Physiology, Elson Floyd College of Medicine, Washington State University, was trained in the fields of microbial ecology, gut microbiome, animal and food sciences, and human nutrition. During the mandatory 6-month internship, he performed research on anaerobic microorganisms found in the anoxic layer of a crater lake, with emphasis on Methanogenic Archaea and dissimilatory iron-reducing bacteria. [...]using functional quantitative PCR assays on biopsies from different colonic regions of human volunteers, a ubiquitous presence of sulfate-reducing bacteria, methanogenic archaea and acetogens was demonstrated, confirming that both functional groups are normally present and that breath methane variable levels are likely due to heterogenous metabolic activities.