Phocaeicola vulgatus

Phocaeicola vulgatus, (formerly Bacteroides vulgatus), is a mutualistic anaerobic Gram negative rod bacteria commonly found in the human gut microbiome and isolated from feces. P. vulgatus has medical relevance and has been notable in scientific research due to its production of fatty acids, potential use as a probiotic, and associations with protecting against and worsening some inflammatory diseases. Due to the difficulties in culturing anaerobic bacteria, P. vulgatus is still highly uncharacterised so efforts are being made to make use of multi-omic approaches to investigate the human gut microbiome more thoroughly in hopes to fully understand the role of this species in the development of and protection against diseases, as well as its potential uses in medicine and research. Generally, P. vulgatus is considered as a beneficial bacteria that contributes to digestion and a balanced microbiome, but it has been known to cause opportunistic infections and induce or worsen inflammatory responses. Due to its abundance in the microbiome, some researchers are investigating these species in hopes that it will be a suitable model organism for gut microbiome research, like Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron.