The Taxonomy of the Genus Bacteroides and Related Taxa

Abstract

With the spread of next-generation sequencers, it has become possible to understand the human gut microbiota without performing cultures. Sequencers have revealed that human gut microbiota are composed of a greater variety of bacterial species than has previously been imagined. The phylum Bacteroidetes is one of the predominant groups in human gut microbiota. Most of the members of the phylum Bacteroidetes belong to the families Bacteroidaceae, Porphyromonadaceae, Prevotellaceae and Rikenellaceae. Over the last decade, a large number of novel genera or novel species that belong to the above-mentioned families have been proposed. Recently, applying the large-scale analysis methods developed for cultures to the analysis of the human gut microbiota, has resulted in a number of novel species being proposed. However, it is necessary to be careful when using these scientific names, because some of these bacterial names have not been formally accepted. In this review, the current taxonomy of the genus Bacteroides and related taxa are discussed.