Faecalibacterium

Abstract Fae.ca.li.bac.te'ri.um. N.L. masc./fem. adj. faecalis , pertaining to feces; Gr. neut. dim. n. baktêrion , a small rod; N.L. neut. n. Faecalibacterium , rod from feces, as this bacterium is present in high numbers in feces in the colon, its presumed habitat. Bacillota / Clostridia / Eubacteriales / Oscillospiraceae / Faecalibacterium The genus Faecalibacterium consists of nine species at the time of writing. They are Gram‐stain‐negative, nonmotile, catalase‐negative, and strictly anaerobic rods. They are gut inhabitants, and all known species originate from feces of animals. They produce butyrate as the major end product from carbohydrate metabolism and are considered as the most predominant butyrate producing bacteria in the human gut. They also produce anti‐inflammatory molecules. Several strains in the genus possess heterogeneous copies of the 16S rRNA gene, resulting in difficulty in species‐level identification. Housekeeping genes, including recA and rpoA , are suitable gene markers for the identification of Faecalibacterium . DNA G + C content (mol%) : 55.9–59.0 (Genome sequence). Type species : Faecalibacterium prausnitzii Duncan et al. 2002 VP (basonym: “ Bacteroides praussnitzii ” Hauduroy et al. 1937, synonym: Fusobacterium prausnitzii Moore and Holdeman 1970 AL ).