Limosilactobacillus, Zheng & Wittouck & Salvetti & Franz & Harris & Mattarelli & O’Toole & Pot & Vandamme & Walter & Watanabe & Wuyts & Felis & Gänzle & Lebeer, 2020

Zheng, Jinshui, Wittouck, Stijn, Salvetti, Elisa, Franz, Charles M. A. P., Harris, Hugh M. B., Mattarelli, Paola, O’Toole, Paul W., Pot, Bruno, Vandamme, Peter, Walter, Jens, Watanabe, Koichi, Wuyts, Sander, Felis, Giovanna E., Gänzle, Michael G. & Lebeer, Sarah, 2020, A taxonomic note on the genus Lactobacillus: Description of 23 novel genera, emended description of the genus Lactobacillus Beijerinck 1901, and union of Lactobacillaceae and Leuconostocaceae, International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology 70 (4), pp. 2782-2858 : 2830-2831

DESCRIPTION OF LIMOSILACTOBACILLUS GEN. NOV.

Limosilactobacillus (Li.mo.si.lac.to.ba.cil'lus. L. masc. adj. limosus, slimy, referring to the property of most strains in the genus to produce exopolysaccharides from sucrose; N.L. masc. n. Lactobacillus a bacterial genus name; N.L. masc. n. Limosilactobacillus , a slimy lactobacillus.

Gram-positive, rod- or coccoid-shaped, catalase-negative, heterofermentative, and anaerobic or aerotolerant. Growth is observed at 37 °C and, for most species, at 45 °C but not at 15 °C. Strains in the genus have very small genomes ranging from 1.6 Mbp for L. equigenerosi to 2.25 Mbp for L. mucosae ; the mol % G+C content as calculated from whole genome shotgun sequences ranges from 38.6.1 to 53.4. In comparison to other heterofermentative lactobacilli, Limosilactobacillus species ferment a relatively broad spectrum of carbohydrates, however, several species do not ferment glucose. Acid resistance is typically mediated by expression of urease, glutaminase, glutamate decarboxylase and / or arginine deiminase activities [ 252]. With the exception of L. fermentum and L. secaliphilus , strains in the genus were isolated from intestinal habitats, or were shown experimentally to have adapted to the intestine of vertebrate animals. Limosilactobacillus reuteri and other strains in the genus produce exopolysaccharides from sucrose to support biofilm formation on non-secretory epithelia in the upper intestinal tract [ 14, 253]. In their natural habitat, Limosilactobacillus species generally form stable associations with Lactobacillus spp. ; the same association is observed in food fermentations with Limosilactobacillus . Limosilactobacillus species., particularly L. reuteri , are produced commercially for use as starter culture and as probiotic culture.

A phylogenetic tree on the basis of 16S rRNA genes of all species in the genus Limosilactobacillus is provided in Figure S 6N .

The type species of the genus is Limosilactobacillus fermentum comb. nov.; Limosilactobacillus was previously referred to as the Lactobacillus reuteri group.

Figures

Fig. 6. Gene family presence/absence patterns in Lactobacillaceae and Leuconostocaceae. Each column represents a gene family presence/absence pattern in species of Lactobacillaceae and Leuconostoaceae, where presence is indicated with a dot. The absolute number of gene families that conform to each pattern is visualized in the marginal bar plot at the top. Separations between phylogroups are indicated with horizontal black lines. We defined genes that were present in all genomes of a clade and in none of the genomes outside of that clade as ‘signature genes’ (dark blue); other genes are shown in light blue. Only presence/absence patterns followed by four or more gene families are shown. Patterns of presence in a single species or all species are not shown. Unassigned species are clusters of closely related genomes which could not be assigned to a known species due to low whole-genome similarity to a type strain and/or low 16S rRNA similarity to a type strain.