Prevotella timonensis degrades the vaginal epithelial glycocalyx through high fucosidase and sialidase activities.

A recent preprint study explores the pathogenic properties of Prevotella timonensis and Prevotella bivia, two anaerobic bacteria commonly found in bacterial vaginosis (BV) patients. The study found that P. timonensis strongly adheres to vaginal and endocervical cells and has a high capacity for mucin degradation at the vaginal epithelial mucosal surface. The bacteria's genome encodes a large set of mucus-degrading enzymes, including fucosidases and sialidases, which are significantly more active in P. timonensis compared to other vaginal anaerobes. These findings highlight the importance of understanding the role of different anaerobic bacteria in BV. [Extracted from the article]