Lactobacillus casei BL23

Lactobacillus_casei
Names Lactobacillus casei BL23
Accession numbers NC_010999
Background Lactobacilli are normal inhabitants of the gastrointestinal tract of man and animals where they are widely considered to exert a number of beneficial roles including immunomodulation, interference with enteric pathogens, and maintenance of a healthy intestinal microflora. Historically, probiotic roles have been ascribed primarily to Lactobacillus acidophilus. The genus Lactobacillus presently comprises more than 50 recognized species of non pathogenic bacteria which in addition to their probiotic effects are useful to human as indispensable agents for the fermentation of foods and feed. Like other lactic acid bacteria, L. casei are acid tolerant, cannot synthesize porphyrins, and possess a strictly fermentative metabolism with lactic acid as the major metabolic end product. Within the genus Lactobacillus, L. casei form part of the facultatively heterofermentative species cluster, which produce lactic acid from hexose sugars via the Embden-Meyerhof pathway and from pentoses by the 6-phosphogluconate/phosphoketolase pathway. L. casei are a remarkably adaptive species, and may be isolated from raw and fermented dairy products, fresh and fermented plant products, and the reproductive and intestinal tracts of humans and other animals. Industrially, L. casei have application as human probiotics (health-promoting live culture), as acid-producing starter cultures for milk fermentation, and as specialty cultures for the intensification and acceleration of flavor development in certain bacterial-ripened cheese varieties (adapted from http://genome.jgi-psf.org/finished_microbes/lacca/lacca.home.html). Strain BL23 has been widely used for genetic, physiological and biochemical studies. It has been cured of plasmid pLZ15 and therefore contains only a single circular chromosome (PubMed 12369195). (HAMAP: LACCB)
Taxonomy
Kingdom:Bacteria
Phylum:Firmicutes
Class:Bacilli
Order:Lactobacillales
Family:Lactobacillaceae
Genus:Lactobacillus
Species:casei
Strain BL23
Complete Yes
Sequencing centre (18-JUN-2008) Loux V., Unite MIG, I.N.R.A, Domaine de Vilvert, 78352 Jouy en Josas Cedex, FRANCE
(21-JUN-2008) National Center for Biotechnology Information, NIH, Bethesda, MD 20894, USA
Sequencing quality Level 6: Finished
Sequencing depth NA
Sequencing method Sanger, 454
Isolation site cheese
Isolation country NA
Number of replicons 1
Gram staining properties Positive
Shape Bacilli
Mobility No
Flagellar presence No
Number of membranes 1
Oxygen requirements Facultative
Optimal temperature NA
Temperature range Mesophilic
Habitat Specialized
Biotic relationship Free living
Host name Homo sapiens
Cell arrangement Chains
Sporulation NA
Metabolism NA
Energy source NA
Diseases NA
Pathogenicity No