Bacteroidetes
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Bacteriodetes |
The phylum Bacteriodetes is composed of three large classes of bacteria that are widely distributed in the environment, including in soil, in sediments, sea water and in the guts of animals.
By far, the Bacteriodales class are the most well-studied, including the genus Bacteriodes (an abundant organism in the feces of warm-blooded animals including humans), and Porphyromonas, a group of organisms inhabiting the human oral cavity.
Members of the genus Bacteriodes are opportunistic pathogens. Rarely are members of the other two classes pathogenic to humans.
Researcher Jeffrey Gordon and his colleagues found that obese humans and mice had intestinal flora (gut flora) with a lower percentage of a family of bacteria called Bacteriodetes and more Firmicutes. However, they are unsure if Bacteriodetes prevent obesity or if these intestinal flora are merely preferentially selected by intestinal conditions in those who are not obese.[1][2][3]
[edit] References
- ^ Ley R, Bäckhed F, Turnbaugh P, Lozupone C, Knight R, Gordon J (2005). "Obesity alters gut microbial ecology". Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 102 (31): 11070-5. PMID 16033867.
- ^ Ley R, Turnbaugh P, Klein S, Gordon J (2006). "Microbial ecology: human gut microbes associated with obesity". Nature 444 (7122): 1022-3. PMID 17183309.
- ^ Turnbaugh P, Ley R, Mahowald M, Magrini V, Mardis E, Gordon J (2006). "An obesity-associated gut microbiome with increased capacity for energy harvest". Nature 444 (7122): 1027-31. PMID 17183312.
[edit] External links
- Borenstein S (2006-12-21). scientists link weight to gut bacteria. Sci-Tech Today. Retrieved on 2007-02-09.
- Pubmed references:
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