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Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences

Veterinary bacteriology: information about important bacteria
Veterinary bacteriology


Species/Subspecies: Leuconostoc mesenteroides subsp. mesenteroides
Category: Primarily of interest in human medicin
Etymology: Genus name: colourless
Species epithet: mesentery-like
Subspecies epithet: mesentery-like
Significance:  [Of minor importance]   
Taxonomy:
Phylum
Bacillota
Class
Bacilli
Order
Bacillales
Family
Leuconostocaceae 
Genus
Leuconostoc
Type Strain: 12954 = ATCC 8293 = CCUG 30066
Macromorphology (smell): Small greyish to white colonies (> 1 mm in diameter),
Micromorphology: Form cocci or rods depending on the growth medium.
Gram +/Gram -:G+
Metabolism: Facultatively anaerobic
Catalase/Oxidase:-/?
Other Enzymes: Tryptophanase- (=indol-)
Fermentation of carbohydrates:
D-glucose
?
lactose
v
maltose
+
L-rhamnose
?
sucrose
+
L-arabinose
+
cellobiose
v
D-mannitol
v
salicin
v
trehalose
+
glycerol
?
inulin
?
raffinose
v
D-sorbitol
?
starch
?
Dextran is produced during fermentation of sucrose.
Spec. Char.: Temperature optimum: 20-30°C.
Disease:This bacterium is normally not considered to be pathogenic to humans, but has recently been shown to cause infections in patients undergoing certain antibiotic treatment and in immunocompromised patients.
Hosts: An environmental bacterium, which may be found on vegetables and fruit.
Clinical Picture:
Genome Sequence:
Acc-noStrainSize (bp)Genome
CP000415 ATCC 8293T 2 075 763 1c + x 

16S rRNA Seq.:
Acc-noStrainNumber of NTOperon
NR_074957  1549  

Taxonomy/phylogeny: Seventeen species have been described within genus Leuconostoc and Leuconostoc mesenteroides has been further divided into 5 subspecies.
Comment:L. mesenteroides is an important bacterium in the process that leads to fermented vegetables.

The Uppsala company Pharmacia had great success in the 40s and 50s with, among other things, a plasma replacement product (Macrodex), which is based on dextran produced by L. mesenteroides. Pharmacia was bought by various companies and Macrodex is not produced in Uppsala any longer, but it is used worldwide in both human and veterinary medicine.

Updated:2023-03-08

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