Metabolism
Many lactobacilli are unusual in that they operate using homofermentative metabolism (that is, they produce only lactic acid from sugars in contrast to heterofermentative lactobacilli which can produce either alcohol or lactic acid from sugars) and are aerotolerant despite the complete absence of a respiratory chain. This aerotolerance is manganese-dependent and has been explored (and explained) in Lactobacillus plantarum. Many lactobacilli do not require iron for growth and have an extremely high hydrogen peroxide tolerance.
According to metabolism, Lactobacillus species can be divided into three groups:
- Obligately homofermentative (Group I) including:
- L. acidophilus, L. delbrueckii, L. helveticus, L. salivarius
- Facultatively heterofermentative (Group II) including:
- L. casei, L. curvatus, L. plantarum, L. sakei
- Obligately heterofermentative (Group III) including:
- L. brevis, L. buchneri, L. fermentum, L. reuteri
Read more about this topic: Lactobacillus
Famous quotes containing the word metabolism:
“He’s got a fifteen percent metabolism with an overactive thyroid and a glandular affectation of about three percent. With a one percent mentality. He’s what we designate as the Crummy Moronic type.”
—Robert Pirosh, U.S. screenwriter, George Seaton, George Oppenheimer, and Sam Wood. Dr. Hugo Z. Hackenbush (Groucho Marx)