Bacteroides fluxus
Classification
Higher order taxa
Bacteria; Bacteroidetes; Bacteroidetes; Bacteroidales; Bacteroidaceae; Bacteroides
Species
Bacteroides fluxus is a newly recognized bacterium that is part of the diverse human gastrointestinal microbiome, and the GI microbiome of some other mammalians. The strain of B. fluxus that was isolated from human feces is known as YIT 12057. The short lived life span of this bacterium during observation led to the nomenclature of B. fluxus.
Description and significance
Bacteroides fluxus is an obligately anaerobic, gram stain negative cell that is non-motile, non-spore forming, and rod shaped, measuring 1.0 – 1.4 μm wide and 1.0 – 2.5 μm long. The major fatty acids that make up B. fluxus are anteiso-C15: 0, summed feature 11 (comprising iso-C17: 0 3-OH and/or C18: 2 dimethylacetal), C18: 1ω9c and iso-C15: 0 and the primary respiratory quinones are Mk-10 and Mk-11. The guanine-cytosine content is 45.2 mol%. The 16s rRNA gene sequence of B. fluxus is a 95.0% match to B. uniformis. B. fluxus incubated on GAM agar appear as opaque, whitish gray, circular and domed colonies with butter like texture and a shiny sheen. The identification and 16s rRNA gene sequencing led to the identification of B. fluxus clones in other fecal samples that were uncultured. The frequency in which B. fluxus appears in other fecal samples is indicative that B. fluxus is a common organism found in the GI tract.
The gastrointestinal microbiome has an important impact on health and wellness and disease. While the specifics of the symbiotic relationship between the GI tract and the bacteria are currently poorly understood, researchers are workings towards increasing our understanding of how the GI and the organisms interact. Researchers not only want to identify the organisms and their functions that exist in the GI tract, they want to understand how these organisms affect the physiology of the gut and effect the overall health and wellness as well as disease prevalence.
Cell Metabolism
B. fluxus is an obligate anaerobe. Glucose, galactose, fucose, arabinose, mannitol, rhamnose, and trehalose are external carbon sources for metabolism. There are also several sugar alcohols B. fluxus metabolizes like glycerol, salicin, and sorbitol. The waste products created from fermentative metabolism are succinic acid and acetic acid.
Current Research
describe one or two topics of research on this microbe
References
Edited by (Samantha Nicholas), student of Rachel Larsen at the University of Southern Maine
