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Prebiotics and Probiotics Science and Technology pp 639–679Cite as

Ecological Interactions of Bacteria in the Human Gut

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Abstract

The colon or large intestine is one of the most important organs of the human body (Macfarlane and Cummings, 1991). Moreover, its inhabitants, the colon microbiota, are the key elements of the human digestive ecosystem. The vast complexity of the human large-intestinal microbiota has inspired researchers to consider it as an organ itself, located inside the colon and acquired postnatally (Bäckhed et al., 2005; Zocco et al., 2007). From a physiologist’s point of view, this image of the colon microbiota is relevant: like an organ, it is composed of different cell lineages that communicate with both one another and the host; it consumes, stores, and redistributes energy; it mediates physiologically important chemical transformations; and it is able to maintain and repair itself through self-replication (Bäckhed et al., 2005). As a microbial organ, the human colon community does not only broaden the digestive abilities of the host (Gill et al., 2006), but also influences body processes far beyond digestion (Roberfroid, 2005b; Turnbaugh et al., 2007).

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Abbreviations

DP :

Degree of polymerization

SCFA :

Short-chain fatty acids

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  1. Research Group of Industrial Microbiology and Food Biotechnology, Department of Applied Biological Sciences and Engineering, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan, Brussels, Belgium

    Gwen Falony & Luc De Vuyst

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  1. Gwen Falony
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  2. Luc De Vuyst
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  1. Department of Food Biosciences, University of Reading Whiteknights, Reading, UK

    Dimitris Charalampopoulos  & Robert A. Rastall  & 

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Falony, G., De Vuyst, L. (2009). Ecological Interactions of Bacteria in the Human Gut. In: Charalampopoulos, D., Rastall, R.A. (eds) Prebiotics and Probiotics Science and Technology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-79058-9_16

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