Bacteroidetes digest carbohydrates via a series of metabolic pathways [44]. They also possess genes that encode for glycan-foraging enzymes to hydrolyze starch and degrade host-derived glycoconjugates and glycosaminoglycans that include hyaluronic acid, mucins, cellulose, and heparin.

What is the role of Bacteroides?

Bacteroides species are normally mutualistic, making up the most substantial portion of the mammalian gastrointestinal microbiota, 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.

Is Bacteroides good or bad?

Amongst commensal bacteria, Bacteroides fragilis has a well-established role as a ‘resistance reservoir’, because it is extremely good at incorporating genes from others of its kind as well as ‘foreign’ genes into its extremely plastic genome by this process of gene transfer.