Enterococcus faecalis
What's this?
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Its ID gene: the stretch scientists read to tell microbes apart. Each bar is one letter of its DNA. Every species has its own order of letters, so the pattern works like a fingerprint. Close relatives share most of it.
16S rRNA gene, V4 region: the 253 letters between the standard primers (515F/806R), which are the same in every species. One reference sequence; strains can differ by a letter or two. NCBI NR_040789.1
Formerly Enterococcus proteiformis.
Mid-sized for a gut microbe: longer than 42% of the 2,354 we have genomes for.
38% G+C, higher than 18% of gut microbes.
To scale: if its ID gene were 1 cm long, its genome would stretch 19 meters. Yours would stretch 21 kilometers. One reference genome; strains vary. NCBI GCF_000393015.1
What it can do
- Can make lactic acid What yogurt bacteria make; other microbes turn it into butyrate.
- Can make B vitamins Folate, B12, riboflavin and others.
- Can ferment fiber Breaks down dietary fiber that our own enzymes can't.
- Can eat inulin A fiber in onions, garlic, leeks, chicory and bananas (also sold as FOS).
- Can use lactose The sugar in milk and dairy.
- Mixed evidence Can feed on gut mucus Lives on mucin, the mucus that lines the gut. Published research reports it; genome analysis found it in none of 289 genomes.
Not seen in its genomes: make butyrate, make propionate, eat resistant starch, eat pectin, make hydrogen sulfide, make methane.
All 13 capabilities and their evidence
| Capability | Verdict | Genome analysis | Lab tests | Published research |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Can make butyrate | Not seen | 0 of 289 genomes | — | No papers |
| Can make propionate | Not seen | 0 of 289 genomes | — | No papers |
| Can make lactic acid | Can | 289 of 289 genomes | — | Papers say yes |
| Can ferment fiber | Can | 289 of 289 genomes | 7 of 116 strains · strip test Strip tests often miss fiber-eaters, so this doesn't override the genomes. | No papers |
| Can eat inulin | Can | 289 of 289 genomes | 1 of 59 strains · strip test Strip tests often miss fiber-eaters, so this doesn't override the genomes. | No papers |
| Can eat resistant starch | Not seen | 0 of 289 genomes | — | No papers |
| Can eat pectin | Not seen | 0 of 289 genomes | — | No papers |
| Can use lactose | Can | 289 of 289 genomes | 101 of 111 strains | Papers say yes |
| Can feed on gut mucus | Mixed evidence | 0 of 289 genomes | — | Papers say yes |
| Can change bile acids | Some strains | 2 of 289 genomes | — | No papers |
| Can make B vitamins | Can | 289 of 289 genomes | — | Papers say yes |
| Can make hydrogen sulfide | Not seen | 0 of 289 genomes | — | No papers |
| Can make methane | Not seen | 0 of 289 genomes | — | No papers |
AGORA2 (Heinken et al. 2023) via VMH, CC BY 4.0 · BacDive (DSMZ), CC BY 4.0 · NJC19 (Lim et al., Scientific Data 2020), CC0
In healthy guts
Found in 6.5% of healthy people.
- largest Segatella copri 6.2%
- 2nd largest Phocaeicola vulgatus 5.0%
- 3rd largest Faecalibacterium prausnitzii 4.7%
- 4th largest Bacteroides uniformis 3.2%
- 5th largest Agathobacter rectalis 2.5%
- 6th largest Alistipes putredinis 2.3%
- 7th largest Bifidobacterium longum 2.1%
- 8th largest Ruminococcus bromii 1.8%
- top 10% Enterococcus faecalis 0.07%
- 2,169 other microbes, each a sliver 56.6%
- 15.6%
On average, 0.07% of the microbes in a healthy gut: larger than 90% of species’ slices.
Every group, drawn the same way. Only some samples record age or sex, so each group says how many people it comes from. Tap one to see it above.
In conditions
Compared with healthy people in the same studies, it’s less common in none and more common in 2 conditions. Only studies that had both are counted.
A difference is an association: it doesn’t mean this microbe causes, prevents or treats any of these.
Strongest first, then the biggest gap · Each figure is 10 peopleIn studies of how people live
“Higher” is the study’s measure: on average, a bigger share of gut bacteria across everyone in the group, carriers or not. It isn’t how many people carry it. An association the authors report, measured once per person. It doesn’t mean a diet changes this microbe, or that the microbe affects health.
Recent research
Source: PubMed, U.S. National Library of Medicine · 1,222 linked papers, last 10 years
Strains studied
How much each strain has been studied in people, not whether it works. Many trials test a strain inside a blend, so those are counted apart, and reviews are summaries of trials, so they're never counted as more trials.
2 strains of E. faecalis are named on product labels. 0 have human trials; 2 have none found yet, including SD-5843, which is in 7 products.
E. faecalis SD-5843
In 7 products →No human trials found yet
E. faecalis TH10
In 1 product →No human trials found yet
Human trials, meta-analyses and systematic reviews naming the strain · animal and lab studies not counted · Data sources