Bacteria, yeasts and other microorganisms of the microbiota help the bioavailability of microminerals by animals.

To do this they use enzymes called escort proteins. In essence, an escort protein captures an ion and transports it to another protein, which needs it, so that its structure is functional.

In this way, a balanced microbiota will allow the balanced absorption of microminerals and a dysbiosis can cause absorption deficiencies even though the mineral is correctly present in the food.

The main known escort proteins, at the moment, are those of copper, iron, zinc, sulfur and molybdenum. The excess of one of these minerals can cause the deficiency of absorption, of the others by reduction, of formation, of their specific escort proteins.

Of all of them, copper is the most interrelated micromineral with the others and this frequently causes deficiencies in its absorption.

For example, the formation of molybdenum escort thioproteins, which have more affinity for copper than the copper escort proteins themselves, increases due to excess sulfur and molybdenum in the feed, causing copper absorption deficit.

And finally note that copper escort proteins are essential for the delivery of iron to the appropriate protein.

In this way, the quality of the microbiota acquires great importance in the secondary metabolism of microminerals.