Bacteroides are Gram-negative, rod-shaped bacteria. Bacteroides species are non-endospore-forming, anaerobes, and may either be motile or non-motile, depending on the species. The DNA base composition is 40-48% GC. Unusual in bacterial organisms, Bacteroides membranes contain sphingolipids. They also contain meso-diaminopimelic acid in their peptidoglycan layer.

Bacteroides are normally commensal, making up the most substantial portion of the mammalian gastrointestinal flora, where they play a fundamental role in processing of complex molecules to simpler ones in the host intestine. As many as 10¹⁰-10¹¹ cells per gram of human feces have been reported. They can use simple sugars when available, but the main source of energy is polysaccharides from plant sources.

Pathogenesis

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Bacteroides species also benefit their host by excluding potential pathogens from colonizing the gut. Some species (B. fragilis, for example) are opportunistic human pathogens, causing infections of the peritoneal cavity, gastrointestinal surgery, and appendicitis via abscess formation, inhibiting phagocytosis, and inactivating beta-lactam antibiotics. Although Bacteroides species are anaerobic, they are aerotolerant and thus can survive in the abdominal cavity.

Bacteroides are generally resistant to a wide variety of antibiotics—beta-lactams, aminoglycosides, and recently many species have acquired resistance to erythromycin and tetracycline. This high level of antibiotic resistance has prompted concerns that Bacteroides species may become a reservoir for resistance in other, more highly pathogenic bacterial strains. }}

References

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See also

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• Flavobacterium
• Cytophaga

External links

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• Bacteroides references in Baron's Medical Microbiology (online at the NCBI bookshelf).

• Bacteriodes in detail.

Bacteria

Bacteroides