The ''Lactobacillaceae'' are a family of
lactic acid bacteria. It is the only family in the lactic acid bacteria which includes homofermentative and heterofermentative organisms; in the ''Lactobacillaceae,'' the pathway used for hexose fermentation is a genus-specific trait. ''Lactobacillaceae'' include the homofermentative lactobacilli ''Lactobacillus'', ''Holzapfelia'', ''Amylolactobacillus'', ''Bombilactobacillus'', ''Companilactobacillus'', ''Lapidilactobacillus'', ''Agrilactobacillus'', ''Schleiferilactobacillus'', ''Loigolactobacillus'', ''Lacticaseibacillus'', ''Latilactobacillus'', ''Dellaglioa'', ''Liquorilactobacillus'', ''Ligilactobacillus'', and ''Lactiplantibacillus''; the heterofermentative lactobacilli ''Furfurilactobacillus'', ''Paucilactobacillus'', ''Limosilactobacillus'', ''Fructilactobacillus'', ''Acetilactobacillus'', ''Apilactobacillus'', ''Levilactobacillus'', ''Secundilactobacillus'', and ''Lentilactobacillus,'' which were previously classified in the genus ''
Lactobacillus''; and the heterofermentative genera ''Convivina'', ''Fructobacillus'', ''Leuconostoc'', ''Oenococcus'', and ''Weissella'' which were previously classified in the ''Leuconostocaceae''.
The ''Lactobacillaceae'' are also the only family of the lactic acid bacteria which does not include pathogenic or opportunistic pathogenic organisms although some species, particularly ''Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus'' and ''Weissella'' spp. can cause rare infections in critically ill patients.
With the exception of ''Lactococcus lactis'', ''Streptococcus thermophilus'' and ''Tetragenococcus halophilus'', most food fermenting lactic acid bacteria are now classified in the ''Lactobacillaceae''.
The
grandfathered term lactobacilli refers to all bacteria classified in Lactobacillaceae prior to 2020, i.e. ''Lactobacillus'' ''
sensu lato'' (pre-split), ''
Pediococcus'', and ''
Sharpea''.
Some authors use ''lactobacilli'' to refer to ''Lactobacillus'' ''sensu lato'' only.
Leuconostocaceae
At one point five genera (''Convivina'', ''Fructobacillus'', ''Leuconostoc'', ''Oenococcus'' and ''Weissella'') were considered a separate family called ''Leuconostocaceae''. These three genera are non-spore-forming, round or elongated in shape, and anaerobic or aerotolerant. They usually inhabit nutrient-rich environments such as milk, meat, vegetable products, and
fermented drink
This is a list of fermented foods, which are foods produced or preserved by the action of microorganisms. In this context, Fermentation in food processing, fermentation typically refers to the fermentation of sugar to ethanol, alcohol using yeas ...
s.
Lactic acid
Lactic acid is an organic acid. It has the molecular formula C3H6O3. It is white in the solid state and it is miscible with water. When in the dissolved state, it forms a colorless solution. Production includes both artificial synthesis as wel ...
is the main end product of their characteristic heterofermentative carbohydrate metabolism. In 2020 Leuconostocaceae was
synonymized with Lactobacillaceae.
Phylogeny
The currently accepted taxonomy is based on the
List of Prokaryotic names with Standing in Nomenclature
List of Prokaryotic names with Standing in Nomenclature (LPSN) is an online database that maintains information on the naming and taxonomy of prokaryotes, following the taxonomy requirements and rulings of the International Code of Nomenclatu ...
(LPSN)
and
National Center for Biotechnology Information
The National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) is part of the National Library of Medicine (NLM), a branch of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). It is approved and funded by the government of the United States. The NCBI is lo ...
(NCBI).
Unassigned genus:
* ''
Eupransor''
Botero et al. 2024
See also
*
List of Bacteria genera
This article lists the genera of the bacteria
Bacteria (; : bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one Cell (biology), biological cell. They constitute a large domain (biology), domain of Prokaryote, ...
*
List of bacterial orders
This article lists the orders of the Bacteria. The currently accepted taxonomy is based on the List of Prokaryotic names with Standing in Nomenclature (LPSN) and National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI)
and the phylogeny is based on 16 ...
References
{{Authority control
Lactobacillales
Bacteria families