Lactobacillus kimchii

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Lactobacillus kimchii
Scientific classification
Class: Bacilli Order: Lactobacillales Family: Lactobacillaceae Genus: Lactobacillus Species: L. kimchii
Binomial name
Lactobacillus kimchii

Description and significance

Lactobacillus kimchii is a newly discovered Gram positive bacterium. Lactobacillus kimchii was found in the Korean dish, kimchi. Kimchi is a main side dish in Korea. It is ranked as one of the top five healthiest food in the world enriched with vitamins and low in calories. It is made from cabbage and other different spices that gets fermented. From the start of the fermentation there are other microorganisms that are present, Lactobacillus plantarum, L. Brevis, Streptococcus faecalis,Leuconostoc mesenteroides, and Pediococcus pentosaceus, but L. kimchii takes care of the rest of the fermentation. [1]

Genome structure

Lactobacillus kimchii is also known as strain MT-1077T. Through careful studying and testing using bacterial straining and culture conditions, this strain MT-1077T was found to be very similar to Lactobacilluc alimentarius and Lactobacillus Farciminis coming from the genus Lactobillus. [2]

 L.kimchii is known to have the G+C content of 35mol %.   

Characteristic	Strain MT-1077T	L. alimentarius KCTC 3593T	L. farciminis LMG 9200T
NH3 production from arginine*	-	-	+
Lactic acid isomer	DL	L(D)	L(D)
Fermentation of
L- Arabinose	+	+	-
Ribose	+	+	-
D-Xylose	+	+	-
Galactose	w	+	+
Lactose	-	-	+
Growth in the presence of 10% NaCl	-	-	+
DNA G+C content (mol%)	35	35	36

Cell structure and metabolism

Lactobacillus kimchiiis short, thin, non-motile, non-spore forming and rod-shaped bacteria. L. kimchii is also known as lactic acid bacteria, LAB. L. kimchii breaks down the unwanted gluconate without releasing gas indicating that the organism is heterofermentation. L. kimchii produces L(+) lactic acid and D(-) lactic acid. The growth of L. kimchii is preferred at 30 degrees Celcius, having a pH between 6.0-7.0. L. kimchii's strain is made up of MT-1077 = ATCC BAA-131 = CCUG 45370 = CIP 107019 = DSM 13961 = JCM 10707 = KCTC 8903P. This was found through 16S rDNA sequences.

Ecology

Lactobacillus kimchii is able to grow in both aerobic and anaerobic places,with temperature high as 40 degrees Celsius. L. kimchii is found during the fermentation of the Korean cabbage, baechu, when used to make kimchi.

• 

  Kimchi

Pathology

Lactobacillus kimchii can only be found in the Korean food, kimchi. Kimchi is fermented based on the salt concentration and the temperature. Kimchi is also know to be well-being food and suggested to be eaten regularly. L.kimchii is member of the Lactobacillus and shares the same quality in the production of fermented food.

Current Research

Lactobacillus bobalius sp. nov., a lactic acid bacterium isolated from Spanish Bobal grape must.

Another member to the genus Lactobacillus has been recently added, known as Lactobacillus Bobalius. It was found from the Bobal grape. To prove the Bobal grape was a novel species, countless test was taken such as ribotypiing, 16s-23s rDNA intergenic spacer region, amplified DNA, random amplification of polymorphic DNA (RAPD) profiling and comparing this new strain 203(T) with other strains like L. Kimchii.

Lipid profile lowering effect of Soypro fermented with lactic acid bacteria isolated from Kimchi in high-fat diet-induced obese rats.

It is already known that kimchi is good for oneself, being rank as one of the top healthiest food. There was a study done using the idea as kimchi being good for the body because of the fermentation by the lactic acid bacteria to see if obesity can be reduced with other products such as Soypro, type of soy milk. Testing the rats for six weeks with the Soypro, the results of the rats losing weight was not conclusive and further testing was needed. The rats overall weight was not changed but the lipoprotein cholesterol had lowered.

Enhancement in ex vivo phagocytic capacity of peritoneal leukocytes in mice by oral delivery of various lactic-acid-producing bacteria.=

Most Lactic acid Bacteria are known to be be helpful to the immune system, there has been many studies using these bacteria to find cures for diseases. In this particular study, it was trying to find a cure for leukocytes using L. kimchii as one of the LAB. The results were the LABs were shown to be probiotic.

References

1. "Role of microorganisms in kimchi fermenation" <http://dwb.unl.edu/Teacher/NSF/C11/C11Links/kimchi.kfri.re.kr/2-1-5.htm>
2. "Lactobacillus." MicrobeWiki. 8 April 2009 Kenyon College. 21 April 2009. <http://microbewiki.kenyon.edu/index.php/Lactobacillus>

• Tomas James Rees, Cranfield University, 1997. The development of a novel antifungal silage inoculant. PhD Thesis (HTML)
• The Ohio State University Food Science and Technology Department. Lactic Acid Bacteria - Carbohydrate and Protein Metabolism. PowerPoint lecture
• Dicks LM, Silvester M, Lawson PA, Collins MD (2000). Lactobacillus fornicalis sp. nov., isolated from the posterior fornix of the human vagina. Abstract, PDF file