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Lactobacillus
 
 
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Lactobacillus is a genus
Genus

A genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The taxonomic ranks are domain , kingdom , phylum, class , order , family , genus, and species....
 of Gram-positive
Gram-positive

Gram-positive Bacteria are those that are stained dark blue or violet by Gram staining. This is in contrast to Gram-negative bacteria, which cannot retain the crystal violet stain, instead taking up the counterstain and appearing red or pink....
 facultative anaerobic or microaerophilic bacteria
Bacteria

The Bacteria are a large group of unicellular microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria have a wide range of shapes, ranging from spheres to rods and spirals....
. They are a major part of the lactic acid bacteria
Lactic acid bacteria

The Lactic Acid Bacteria comprise a clade of Gram-positive, low-GuanineCytosine, acid-tolerant, generally non-sporulating, non-respiring rod or cocci that are associated by their common metabolic and physiological characteristics....
 group, named as such because most of its members convert lactose
Lactose

Lactose is a sugar that is found most notably in milk. Lactose makes up around 2?8% of milk . The name comes from the Latin word for milk, plus the -ose ending used to name sugars....
 and other sugars to lactic acid
Lactic acid

Lactic acid , also known as milk acid, is a chemical compound that plays a role in several biochemistry processes. It was first isolated in 1780 by a Swedish chemist, Carl Wilhelm Scheele, and is a carboxylic acid with a chemical formula of C3H6O3....
. They are common and usually benign. In humans they are present in the vagina
Vagina

The vagina is a fibromuscular cylinder tract leading from the uterus to the exterior of the body in female placental mammals and marsupials, or to the cloaca in female birds, monotremes, and some reptiles....
 and the gastrointestinal tract
Gastrointestinal tract

The digestive tract is the system of Organ s within multicellular animals that takes in food, digestion it to extract energy and nutrients, and expels the remaining waste....
, where they are symbiotic and make up a small portion of the gut flora
Gut flora

The gut flora are the microorganisms that normally live in the digestive tract of animals. Though widely known as the "intestinal microflora", this is technically a misnomer since the word root "flora" pertains to plants and biota refers to microbial life such as bacteria other than plants....
. Many species are prominent in decaying plant material.






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Encyclopedia


Lactobacillus is a genus
Genus

A genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The taxonomic ranks are domain , kingdom , phylum, class , order , family , genus, and species....
 of Gram-positive
Gram-positive

Gram-positive Bacteria are those that are stained dark blue or violet by Gram staining. This is in contrast to Gram-negative bacteria, which cannot retain the crystal violet stain, instead taking up the counterstain and appearing red or pink....
 facultative anaerobic or microaerophilic bacteria
Bacteria

The Bacteria are a large group of unicellular microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria have a wide range of shapes, ranging from spheres to rods and spirals....
. They are a major part of the lactic acid bacteria
Lactic acid bacteria

The Lactic Acid Bacteria comprise a clade of Gram-positive, low-GuanineCytosine, acid-tolerant, generally non-sporulating, non-respiring rod or cocci that are associated by their common metabolic and physiological characteristics....
 group, named as such because most of its members convert lactose
Lactose

Lactose is a sugar that is found most notably in milk. Lactose makes up around 2?8% of milk . The name comes from the Latin word for milk, plus the -ose ending used to name sugars....
 and other sugars to lactic acid
Lactic acid

Lactic acid , also known as milk acid, is a chemical compound that plays a role in several biochemistry processes. It was first isolated in 1780 by a Swedish chemist, Carl Wilhelm Scheele, and is a carboxylic acid with a chemical formula of C3H6O3....
. They are common and usually benign. In humans they are present in the vagina
Vagina

The vagina is a fibromuscular cylinder tract leading from the uterus to the exterior of the body in female placental mammals and marsupials, or to the cloaca in female birds, monotremes, and some reptiles....
 and the gastrointestinal tract
Gastrointestinal tract

The digestive tract is the system of Organ s within multicellular animals that takes in food, digestion it to extract energy and nutrients, and expels the remaining waste....
, where they are symbiotic and make up a small portion of the gut flora
Gut flora

The gut flora are the microorganisms that normally live in the digestive tract of animals. Though widely known as the "intestinal microflora", this is technically a misnomer since the word root "flora" pertains to plants and biota refers to microbial life such as bacteria other than plants....
. Many species are prominent in decaying plant material. The production of lactic acid makes its environment acidic, which inhibits the growth of some harmful bacteria. Several members of the genus have had their genome
Genome

In classical genetics, the genome of a diploid organism including eukarya refers to a full set of chromosomes or genes in a gamete; thereby, a regular somatic cell contains two full sets of genomes....
 sequenced.

Food production

Some Lactobacillus species are used industrially for the production of yogurt
Yoghurt

Yoghurt, yogurt, yoghourt, youghurt or yogourt , is a dairy product produced by bacterial fermentation of milk....
, cheese
Cheese

Cheese is a food consisting of proteins and fat from milk, usually the milk of cattle, Water Buffalo, goats, or sheep's milk. It is produced by Coagulation of the milk protein casein....
, sauerkraut
Sauerkraut

File:Kiszona kapusta.JPGSauerkraut is finely shredded cabbage that has been fermentation by various lactic acid bacteria, including Leuconostoc, Lactobacillus, and Pediococcus....
, pickle
Pickling

Pickling, also known as brining or corning, is the process of preserving food by Anaerobic organism fermentation in brine , to produce lactic acid bacteria, or marination and storing it in an acid solution, usually vinegar ....
s, beer
Beer

Beer is the world's oldest and most widely consumed alcoholic beverage and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and Fermentation of starches, mainly derived from cereal?the most common of which is malted barley, although wheat, maize , and rice are widely used....
, wine
Wine

Wine is an alcoholic beverage often made of fermentation grape juice. The natural chemical balance of grapes is such that they can ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes or other nutrients....
, cider
Cider

Cider is an alcoholic beverage usually made from the fermentation juice of apples, although pears are also used.While any variety of apple may be used, certain cultivars are preferred in some regions, and these may be known as cider apples....
, kimchi
Kimchi

Kimchi, also spelled gimchi or kimchee, is a traditional Korean pickled dish made of vegetables with varied seasonings, most commonly referring to the spicy baechu variety....
, chocolate
Chocolate

Chocolate comprises a number of raw and processed foods that are produced from the seed of the tropical cacao tree.Chocolate has become one of the most popular flavors in the world....
, and other fermented
Fermentation (food)

Fermentation in food processing typically refers to the conversion of sugar to alcohol using yeast under anaerobic conditions. A more general definition of fermentation is the chemical conversion of carbohydrates into alcohols or acids....
 foods, as well as animal feeds, such as silage
Silage

File:Cattle eating corn silage.jpgSilage is fermentation , high-moisture fodder that can be fed to ruminants or used as a biofuel feedstock for anaerobic digesters....
. Sourdough
Sourdough

Sourdough refers to the process of leavening agent bread by capturing wild yeasts in a dough or batter, as opposed to using a domestic, purpose-cultured yeast such as Saccharomyces cerevisiae....
 bread is made using a "starter culture," which is a symbiotic culture of yeast
Yeast

Yeasts are eukaryote microorganisms classified in the Kingdom fungus, with about 1,500 species currently described; they dominate fungal diversity in the oceans....
 and lactic acid bacteria
Lactic acid bacteria

The Lactic Acid Bacteria comprise a clade of Gram-positive, low-GuanineCytosine, acid-tolerant, generally non-sporulating, non-respiring rod or cocci that are associated by their common metabolic and physiological characteristics....
 growing in a water
Water

Water is a common chemical substance that is essential for the survival of all known forms of life. In typical usage, water refers only to its liquid form or States of matter, but the substance also has a solid state, ice, and a gaseous state, water vapor or steam....
 and flour
Flour

Flour is a powder made of cereal grains. It is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many civilizations, making the availability of adequate supplies of flour a major economic and political issue at various times throughout history....
 medium
Growth medium

A growth medium or culture medium is a liquid or gel designed to support the growth of microorganisms or Cell s , or small plants like the moss Physcomitrella patens ....
. Lactobacilli, especially L. casei
Lactobacillus casei

Lactobacillus casei is a species of genus Lactobacillus found in the human intestine and mouth. As a lactic acid producer, it has been found to assist in the propagation of desirable bacteria....
 and L. brevis
Lactobacillus brevis

Lactobacillus brevis is a species of lactic acid bacteria. It can be found in many different environments and in fermentation such as sauerkraut and pickling....
, are some of the most common beer spoilage organisms. The species operate by lowering the pH of the fermenting substance by creating the lactic acid, neutralising it to the desired extent.

Probiotics and biotherapeutics

Some Lactobacillus spp. and other lactic acid bacteria may possess potential therapeutic properties including anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer
Cancer

Cancer is a class of diseases in which a group of cell display uncontrolled growth , invasion , and sometimes metastasis . These three malignant properties of cancers differentiate them from benign tumors, which are self-limited, do not invade or metastasize....
 activities, as well as other features of interest. Research studies have demonstrated the protective effects of some strains of these bacteria for anti-tumor
Tumor

A tumor or tumour is the name for a swelling or lesion formed by an abnormal growth of cells . Tumor is not synonymous with cancer. A tumor can be Benign neoplasm, Carcinoma in situ or malignant, whereas cancer is by definition malignant....
 and anti-cancer effects. Dietary administration alleviated the risks of certain types of cancers and suppressed colonic tumor incidence, volume and multiplicity induced by various carcinogen
Carcinogen

The term carcinogen refers to any substance, radionuclide or radiation that is an agent directly involved in the promotion of cancer or in the increase of its propagation....
s. For a few strains oral administration effectively reduced DNA
DNA

Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetics instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms and some viruses....
 adduct
Adduct

An adduct is a product of a direct addition of two or more distinct molecules, resulting in a single reaction product containing all atoms of all components, with formation of two chemical bonds and a net reduction in bond multiplicity in at least one of the reactants....
 formation, ameliorated DNA damage and prevented putative preneoplastic lesions such as aberrant crypt foci induced by chemical carcinogens in the gastrointestinal tract
Gastrointestinal tract

The digestive tract is the system of Organ s within multicellular animals that takes in food, digestion it to extract energy and nutrients, and expels the remaining waste....
. Reports also indicated that some cultures administered to animals inhibited liver, colon, bladder, and mammary tumors, highlighting potential systemic effects of probiotic
Probiotic

Probiotics are dietary supplements of live bacteria or yeasts thought to be healthy for the host organism. According to the currently adopted definition by FAO/world health organization, probiotics are: ?Live microorganisms which when administered in adequate amounts confer a health benefit on the host?....
s with anti-neoplastic activities.

Taxonomy

The genus Lactobacillus currently consists of over 125 species and encompasses a wide variety of organisms. The genus is polyphyletic, with the genus Pediococcus
Pediococcus

Pediococcus is a genus of Gram-positive lactic acid bacteria, placed within the family of Lactobacillaceae. They usually occur in pairs or tetrads, and divide along two planes of symmetry, as do the other lactic acid cocci genera Aerococci and Tetragenococcus....
 dividing the L. casei group, and the species L. acidophilus, L. salivarius, and L. reuteri being representatives of three distinct subclades. The genus Paralactobacillus falls within the L. salivarius group. In recent years, other members of the genus Lactobacillus (formerly known as the Leuconostoc branch of Lactobacillus) have been reclassified into the genera Atopobium
Atopobium

Atopobium is a genus of Actinobacteria, in the family Coriobacteriaceae....
, Carnobacterium, Weissella
Weissella

Weissella is a genus of Gram-positive bacterium, placed within the family of Leuconostocaceae. The morphology of weissellas varies from spherical or lenticular cells to irregular rods....
, Oenococcus
Oenococcus

Oenococcus is a genus of Gram-positive bacterium, placed within the family of Leuconostocaceae. The only species in the genus used to be Oenococcus oeni ....
, and Leuconostoc
Leuconostoc

Leuconostoc is a genus of Gram-positive bacterium, placed within the family of Leuconostocaceae. They are generally ovoid cocci often forming chains....
. More recently, the Pediococcus
Pediococcus

Pediococcus is a genus of Gram-positive lactic acid bacteria, placed within the family of Lactobacillaceae. They usually occur in pairs or tetrads, and divide along two planes of symmetry, as do the other lactic acid cocci genera Aerococci and Tetragenococcus....
 species P. dextrinicus has been reclassified as a Lactobacillus
Lactobacillus

Lactobacillus is a genus of Gram-positive facultative anaerobic or microaerophilic bacteria. They are a major part of the lactic acid bacteria group, named as such because most of its members convert lactose and other sugars to lactic acid....
 species (IJSEM, Paper in Press).

Dental cavities

Although considered beneficial, some Lactobacillus species have been associated with dental caries
Dental caries

Dental caries, also known as tooth decay, is a disease where bacterial processes damage hard tooth structure . These tissues progressively break down, producing dental cavities ....
. Lactobacillus count in saliva has been used as a "caries test" for many years. This is one of the arguments used in support of the use of fluoride
Fluoride

Fluoride is the Redox form of fluorine. Both organic compounds and inorganic compounds containing the chemical element fluorine are considered fluorides....
 in toothpaste
Toothpaste

Toothpaste is a paste or gel dentifrice used to clean and maintain the aesthetics and health of teeth. Toothpaste is used to promote oral hygiene: it can aid in the removal of dental plaque and food from the teeth, aid in the elimination and/or masking of halitosis and deliver active ingredients such as fluoride or xylitol to prevent tooth...
 and lozenges
Throat lozenge

A throat lozenge or cough drop is a small, medicated candy intended to be dissolved slowly in the mouth to lubricate and soothe irritated tissues of the throat , possibly from the common cold or influenza....
.

Metabolism

Many lactobacilli are unusual in that they operate using homofermentative metabolism (that is, they produce only lactic acid from sugars in contrast to heterofermentative lactobacilli which can produce either alcohol or lactic acid from sugars) and are aerotolerant despite the complete absence of a respiratory chain. This aerotolerance is manganese
Manganese

Manganese is a chemical element, designated by the symbol Mn. It has the atomic number 25. It is found as a Oxidation state in nature , and in many minerals....
-dependent and has been explored (and explained) in Lactobacillus plantarum
Lactobacillus plantarum

Lactobacillus plantarum is a widespread member of the genus Lactobacillus, commonly found in many fermented food products as well as anaerobic plant matter....
. Many lactobacilli do not require iron
Iron

Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. Iron is a Group 8 element and period 4 element. Iron is lustrous and silvery in color....
 for growth and have an extremely high hydrogen peroxide
Hydrogen peroxide

Hydrogen peroxide is a very pale blue liquid which appears colorless in a dilute solution, slightly more viscous than water. It is a weak acid....
 tolerance.

According to metabolism, Lactobacillus species can be divided into three groups:

  • Obligately homofermentative (Group I)
    • L. acidophilus
      Lactobacillus acidophilus

      Lactobacillus acidophilus is one species in the genus Lactobacillus. It is sometimes used commercially together with Streptococcus salivarius and Lactobacillus bulgaricus in the production of acidophilus-type yogurt....
      , L. delbrueckii, L. helveticus
      Lactobacillus helveticus

      Lactobacillus helveticus is a lactic-acid producing rod shaped bacterium of the genus Lactobacillus. It is most commonly used in the production of Swiss cheese and Emmental cheese but is also sometimes used in making other styles of cheese, such as Cheddar cheese, Parmigiano-Reggiano, Romano cheese, provolone, and mozzarella....
      , L. salivarius
  • Facultatively heterofermentative (Group II)
    • L. casei
      Lactobacillus casei

      Lactobacillus casei is a species of genus Lactobacillus found in the human intestine and mouth. As a lactic acid producer, it has been found to assist in the propagation of desirable bacteria....
      , L. curvatus, L. plantarum
      Lactobacillus plantarum

      Lactobacillus plantarum is a widespread member of the genus Lactobacillus, commonly found in many fermented food products as well as anaerobic plant matter....
      , L. sakei
  • Obligately heterofermentative (Group III)
    • L. brevis
      Lactobacillus brevis

      Lactobacillus brevis is a species of lactic acid bacteria. It can be found in many different environments and in fermentation such as sauerkraut and pickling....
      , L. buchneri
      Lactobacillus buchneri

      Lactobacillus buchneri is a heterofermentative bacteria that produces lactic and acetic acid during fermentation. It is used as a bacterial inoculant to improve the aerobic stability of Silage....
      , L. fermentum
      Lactobacillus fermentum

      Lactobacillus fermentum is a Gram-positive species of bacterium in the genus Lactobacillus. It is associated with active dental caries lesions....
      , L. reuteri
      Lactobacillus reuteri

      'Lactobacillus reuteri' is a Gram-positive bacterium that naturally inhabits the gut of mammals and birds. First described in the early 1980s, some strains of L....


See also

  • Firmicutes
    Firmicutes

    The Firmicutes are a division of bacterium, most of which have Gram-positive cell wall structure. A few, the Mollicutes or mycoplasmas, lack cell walls altogether and so do not respond to Gram staining, but still lack the second membrane found in other Gram-negative forms....
  • Lactic acid bacteria
    Lactic acid bacteria

    The Lactic Acid Bacteria comprise a clade of Gram-positive, low-GuanineCytosine, acid-tolerant, generally non-sporulating, non-respiring rod or cocci that are associated by their common metabolic and physiological characteristics....
  • Paralactobacillus
  • Pediococcus
    Pediococcus

    Pediococcus is a genus of Gram-positive lactic acid bacteria, placed within the family of Lactobacillaceae. They usually occur in pairs or tetrads, and divide along two planes of symmetry, as do the other lactic acid cocci genera Aerococci and Tetragenococcus....
  • Probiotics


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