Gut commensal bacteria contribute to the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease, in part by activating the inflammasome and inducing secretion of interleukin-1ß (IL-1ß). Although much has been learned about inflammasome activation by bacterial pathogens, little is known about how commensals carry out this process. Accordingly, we investigated the mechanism of inflammasome activation by repr...

Orientations of the seven invertible polysaccharide biosynthesis locus promoters of Bacteroides fragilis were determined from bacteria grown in vitro, from feces of monoassociated and complex colonized mice, and from B. fragilis-induced murine abscesses. Bacteria grown in vivo have greater variability in orientation of polysaccharide locus promoters than culture-grown organisms.

The sequence and analysis of the capsular polysaccharide biosynthesis locus, PS B2, of Bacteroides fragilis 638R are described, and the sequence is compared with that of the PS B1 biosynthesis locus of B. fragilis NCTC 9343. Two genes of the region, wcgD and wcgC, are shown by complementation to encode a UDP-N-acetylglucosamine 2-epimerase and a UDP-N-acetylmannosamine dehydrogenase, respectively.

BACKGROUND The rationale and lessons learned through the evolution of the National Survey for the Susceptibility of Bacteroides fragilis Group from its initiation in 1981 through 2007 are reviewed here. The survey was conceived in 1980 to track emerging antimicrobial resistance in Bacteroides species. METHODS Data from the last 11 years of the survey (1997-2007), including 6574 isolates from ...

Aim: Blastocystis and Dientamoeba fragilis (D. fragilis) are among the most common protozoon species in human faecal samples. The cross-sectional studies have reported frequencies a variety of populations. However, we very limited information about co-existence rate those protozoans. study aimed to compare D. frequency positive negative samples order determine rate. secondary objective was anal...

Bacteroides fragilis, member from commensal gut microbiota, is an important pathogen associated to endogenous infections and metronidazole remains a valuable antibiotic for the treatment of these infections, although bacterial resistance is widely reported. Considering the need of a better understanding on the global mechanisms by which B. fragilis survive upon metronidazole exposure, we perfor...

A prospective study was conducted over a 30-month period, in which fecal specimens from 6,750 patients were submitted to the Department of Microbiology at St. Vincent's Hospital, Sydney, Australia. Trophozoites of Dientamoeba fragilis were detected in 60 (0.9%) patients by permanent staining, and confirmation was performed by PCR. Gastrointestinal symptoms were present in all patients, with dia...

The Fluoretec fluorescent antibody test kit (Pfizer Inc., New York, N.Y.), developed for the rapid detection of members of the Bacteroides fragilis and B. melaninogenicus groups, was evaluated by testing 58 stock cultures and 76 clinical specimens. The test reagents detected 100% of 40 B. fragilis and B. thetaiotaomicron stock culture strains, although only 22% of 18 B. vulgatus, B. distasonis,...

Ecological succession itself could be a theoretical reference for ecosystem restoration and reconstruction. Glacier forelands are ideal places for investigating plant succession because there are representative ecological succession records at long temporal scales. Based on field observations and experimental data on the foreland of Baishui number 1 Glacier on Mt. Yulong, the succession and dis...

Enterotoxigenic Bacteroides fragilis (ETBF) is an important part of the human and animal intestinal microbiota and is commonly associated with diarrhea. ETBF strains produce an enterotoxin encoded by the bft gene located in the B. fragilis pathogenicity island (BfPAI). Non-enterotoxigenic B. fragilis (NTBF) strains lack the BfPAI and usually show two different genetic patterns, II and III, base...