Isabelle's Factual Notes:
Habitat
A variety of lactic acid bacteria (LAB), including Leuconostoc species are commonly found on crop plants (Mundt et al 1967; Mundt 1970). L. mesenteroides is perhaps the most predominant LAB species found on fruits and vegetables and is responsible for initiating the sauerkraut and other vegetable fermentations (Pederson and Albury 1969). L. mesenteroides starter cultures also used in some dairy and bread dough fermentations (Server-Busson et al. 1999).
http://genome.jgi-psf.org/draft_microbes/leume/leume.home.html
The lactic acid they produce is effective in inhibiting the growth of other bacteria that may decompose or spoil the food. Because the whole group is referred to as ‘lactic acid bacteria’ it might appear that the reactions they carry out are very simple, with the production of one substrate. This is far from the truth. The lactic acid bacteria are a diverse group of organisms with a diverse metabolic capacity. This diversity makes them very adaptable to a range of conditions and is largely responsible for their success in acid food fermentations.
http://www.bact.wisc.edu/Microtextbook/index.php?module=Book&func=displaychapter&chap_id=54&theme=printer
Classification
Leuconostoc mesenteroides is a facultative anaerobe requiring complex growth factors and amino acids (Reiter and Oram 1982; Garvie 1986).
(1955) reported that strain 39 is unable to utilize
oxygen as an electron acceptor in the dissimilation
of glucose and that this organism produces
the same end products (carbon dioxide, lactate,
and ethanol) in the presence and absence of air.
However, we have found that representatives of
five colonial types of L. mesenteroides show a
considerable oxygen uptake on glucose, while
strain 39 consumes no oxygen under the same
conditions. In the presence of air, strain 548
(colonial type D) uses approximately one mole
of oxygen per mole of glucose and produces
approximately equimolar quantities of carbon
dioxide, lactate and acetate. It has been suggested
(Gunsalus and Gibbs, 1952) that the ethanol
formed by strain 39 arises from the reduction of
acetate. It appears that our strains can utilize
oxygen instead of acetate as a hydrogen acceptor,
thereby producing acetate as an end product
rather than the ethanol which is formed anaerobically
DeMoss and Gibbs
http://jb.asm.org/cgi/reprint/75/1/98
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leuconostoc_mesenteroides
Nutritional Requirements
All species within this genus are heterofermentative and are able to produce dextran from sucrose.
A heterotroph (Greek heterone = (an)other and trophe = nutrition) is an organism that requires organic substrates to get its carbon for growth and development.
Heterotrophs are unable to synthesize organic, carbon based compounds independently from the inorganic environment's sources
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heterotroph
Recent Research
When only one organism was isolated from the wet rot in recently harvested roots, L. mesenteroides subsp. dextranicum was the most frequently isolated organism. This bacterium also caused the most rot when inoculated back into sugar beet root tissue in pathogenicity tests. The impact and circumstances responsible for this newly described rot complex in sugar beets is being investigated.
http://www.ars.usda.gov/research/publications/publications.htm?seq_no_115=209584
Sauerkraut fermentation relies on naturally occurring lactic acid bacteria present on the raw cabbage. Several lactic acid bacterial species (mainly Leuconostoc mesenteroides, Lactobacillus brevis, Pediococcus pentosaceus, and Lactobacillus plantarum) are known to contribute to the complex sauerkraut fermentation process (28). L. mesenteroides is thought to be the dominant species in the early heterofermentative stage of this fermentation (13, 14, 28). However, there is little information available regarding the diversity of Leuconostoc species and strains involved in sauerkraut fermentation.
Similar to cabbage, puto contains a diverse microflora, including both homo- and heterofermentative lactobacilli, and many different Leuconostoc strains are presumed to be responsible for the initial acid production (20).
Several changes in the taxonomic classification of species within the genus Leuconostoc have been made in the last 10 years.
Results of this study suggest that good quality sauerkraut using only 1% NaCl (a 50% reduction from current practices) could consistently be produced if cabbage were initially inoculated with a suitable strain of L. mesenteroides
http://www.ars.usda.gov/research/publications/publications.htm?SEQ_NO_115=203863
This work describes the purification and initial kinetic characterization of a D-Ala-D-Ala ligase for the first time from a Gram-positive bacterium, L. mesenteroides, known to possess intrinsic chromosomally mediated resistance to the antibiotic vancomycin
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vancomycin
Pickles
http://www.ilovepickles.org/education/howpicklesmade.html
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