Gut bacterial phospholipase Ds support disease-associated metabolism by generating choline

The essential nutrient choline is metabolized by gut bacteria to the disease-associated metabolite trimethylamine (TMA). However, most of the choline obtained via the diet and present in the human body is incorporated into larger metabolites, including the lipid phosphatidylcholine (PC). Here, we report that many choline-utilizing gut microorganisms can hydrolyse PC using a phospholipase D (PLD) enzyme and further convert the released choline to...