Oscillospiraceae is a family of bacteria in the class

Clostridia The Clostridia are a highly polyphyletic class of Bacillota, including '' Clostridium'' and other similar genera. They are distinguished from the Bacilli by lacking aerobic respiration. They are obligate anaerobes and oxygen is toxic to them. Sp ...

. All Oscillospiraceae are

obligate anaerobe Obligate anaerobes are microorganisms killed by normal atmospheric concentrations of oxygen (20.95% O2). Oxygen tolerance varies between species, with some species capable of surviving in up to 8% oxygen, while others lose viability in environm ...

s. However, members of the family have diverse shapes, with some

rod-shaped A bacillus (), also called a bacilliform bacterium or often just a rod (when the context makes the sense clear), is a rod-shaped bacterium or archaeon. Bacilli are found in many different taxonomic groups of bacteria. However, the name ''Bacillu ...

and others

cocci A coccus (plural cocci) is any bacterium or archaeon that has a spherical, ovoid, or generally round shape. Bacteria are categorized based on their shapes into three classes: cocci (spherical-shaped), bacillus (rod-shaped) and spiral ( of whi ...

. Within the family, ''Faecalibacterium prausnitzii'' is notable as an abundant

commensal bacteria Commensalism is a long-term biological interaction (symbiosis) in which members of one species gain benefits while those of the other species neither benefit nor are harmed. This is in contrast with mutualism, in which both organisms benefit fr ...

of the human

gut microbiota Gut microbiota, gut microbiome, or gut flora, are the microorganisms, including bacteria, archaea, fungi, and viruses that live in the digestive tracts of animals. The gastrointestinal metagenome is the aggregate of all the genomes of the gut m ...

. In addition, several members of ''

Ruminococcus ''Ruminococcus'' is a genus of bacteria in the class Clostridia. They are anaerobic, Gram-positive gut microbes. One or more species in this genus are found in significant numbers in the human gut microbiota. The type species is ''R. flavefacien ...

'' are found in the human gut.

References

Eubacteriales Bacteria families {{clostridia-stub