Lactobacillus (Lactiplantibacillus) Plantarum

Lactobacillus plantarum
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Lactiplantibacillus plantarum
Lactiplantibacillus plantarum is a rod-shaped, Gram-positive lactic acid bacteria (LAB) commonly found in the gastrointestinal tract of humans and is considered as “good bacteria” (Arasu et al., 2016). It is commonly seen as single rods or occurring as short chains under the microscope and is not motile and does not produce spores like Bacillus species. It is also considered a probiotic, which functions to help digestive processes in humans, as well as facilitate the synthesis or processing of certain micronutrients like vitamins with the use of the microorganisms.
Lactic acid bacteria are generally considered as spoilage microorganisms because they convert sugars, such as those present in wine, to lactic acid or ethanol. This is a fermentative action possible because the lactic acid bacteria are facultative anaerobes, which means they can live with or without oxygen. Since fermentation is an anaerobic process, where the pathway taken by glucose to become other products of fermentation does not require oxygen to proceed.
L. plantarum is an organism commonly isolated from fermented food items and beverages like wine. However, it was first isolated from human saliva (Dillon, 2014). Further studies indicate that aside from the mentioned sources/reservoirs, L. plantarum can also be isolated from plant surfaces, soil, and invertebrates and other vertebrates (Duar et al., 2017).
With systematics and the continued studies of microorganisms in microbiology, it is normal that microorganisms are being named and renamed frequently. In the past, L. plantarum was assigned under the genus Lactobacillus by the works of Beijerinck in 1901. However, the most recent amendment in Family Lactobacillaceae, where Zheng et al. (2020) have introduced 23 novel genera which caused reassignments of many genera due to reevaluations of whole genome sequences, which further differentiated species and placed them in rightful genera.
As mentioned previously, L. plantarum is capable of fermentation. This means a great deal to the grape and wine industry, especially since grapes contain sugars that the organism can ferment to make wine. The controlled use of L. plantarum strains on wine production allows vinters to produce different qualities of wines, all the while considering other factors such as variety and quality of the grapes the...