Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron and Faecalibacterium prausnitziiinfluence the production of mucus glycans and the development of goblet cells in the colonic epithelium of a gnotobiotic model rodent

B. thetaiotaomicron and F. prausnitzii, which are metabolically complementary, modulate, in vivo, the intestinal mucus barrier by modifying goblet cells and mucin glycosylation. Our study reveals the importance of the balance between two main commensal bacteria in maintaining colonic epithelial homeostasis via their respective effects on mucus.