Oxalobacter formigenes
Oxalobacter formigenes is a Gram negative oxalate-degrading anaerobic bacterium that was first isolated from the gastrointestinal tract of a sheep in 1985. To date, the bacterium has been found to colonize the large intestines of numerous vertebrates, including humans, and has even been isolated from freshwater sediment. It processes oxalate by decarboxylation into formate (oxalyl-CoA decarboxylase), producing energy for itself in the process.
| Oxalobacter formigenes | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Bacteria |
| Phylum: | Pseudomonadota |
| Class: | Betaproteobacteria |
| Order: | Burkholderiales |
| Family: | Oxalobacteraceae |
| Genus: | Oxalobacter |
| Species: | O. formigenes |
| Binomial name | |
| Oxalobacter formigenes Allison et al, 1985 | |
| Type strain | |
| Oxalobacter formigenes OxBT | |
The broad-spectrum quinolone antibiotics kill O. formigenes. If a person's gastrointestinal (GI) tract lacks this bacterium, and therefore lacks the primary source of the oxalyl-CoA decarboxylase enzyme, then the GI tract cannot degrade dietary oxalates; after some vitamin B6-modulated partial metabolic degradation in the body, the oxalates are excreted in the kidney, where they precipitates to form calcium oxalate kidney stones. Oxalobacter formigenes can protect against kidney stones by degrading oxalate.
The role and presence of O. formigenes in the human gut is an area of active research.