Distal Colon / Colon / Large Intestine

In the large intestine, adult stem cells reside within the invaginations and constantly proliferate.
Kayisoglu et al. 2021

The colon is the most densely populated area of the digestive tract , with 10H12 cells per gram of intestinal substance comprised of up to 1000 different species
Shapira 2016 Trends Ecol Evol. 31(7):539-549
Gomaa 2020 Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek 113(12): 2019-2040

Bacteroides and Clostridiales become the dominating members in the colon
Kim et al. 2017 Immunol Rev. 279(1): 90-105

The colon microbiota is primarily powered by the efficient breakdown of complex indigestible carbohydrates.
Marchesi et al. 2016 Gut 65: 330‑339

In the human colon, the density of bacteria – mainly anaerobic bacteria of the families Bacteroidaceae, Prevotellaceae, Rikenellaceae, Lachnospiraceae, and Ruminococcaceae – reaches 10H11/g
Donaldson et al. 2016 Nat. Rev. Microbiol. 14: 20-32

The Distal Colon / Colon / Large Intestine is heavily colonized by microbiota, which maintains a symbiotic relationship with the host and breaks down nutrients not absorbed in the small intestine
Wikoff et al. 2009 Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 106(10): 3698-3703
Malys et al. 2015 Medicina (B. Aires) 51(2): 69-75

Except for the absence of villi, the more numerous goblet cells, and the absence of Paneth cells in the crypts, the architecture of the colon closely resembles that of the small intestine
Gerbe et al. 2012 Cell Mol Life Sci. 69: 2907-2917

The distal gut is home to our largest number of microbes
Turnbaugh et al. 2009b

The substrate in the distal colon is less available, the pH is close to neutral, putrefactive processes become quantitatively more important, and bacterial populations are close to static
Guarner & Malagelada 2003

Another important function of the large intestine is water reabsorption, which mainly occurs in the proximal part of the colon
Devroede et al. 1971 Can J Physiol Pharmacol 49(12): 1023-1029