# Lactobacillaceae

The Lactobacillaceae are a family of lactic acid bacteria. It is the only family in the lactic acid bacteria which includes homofermentative and heterofermentative organisms; in the Lactobacillaceae, the pathway used for hexose fermentation is a genus-specific trait. Lactobacillaceae include the homofermentative lactobacilli Lactobacillus, Holzapfelia, Amylolactobacillus, Bombilactobacillus, Companilactobacillus, Lapidilactobacillus, Agrilactobacillus, Schleiferilactobacillus, Loigolactobacillus, Lacticaseibacillus, Latilactobacillus, Dellaglioa, Liquorilactobacillus, Ligilactobacillus, and Lactiplantibacillus; the heterofermentative lactobacilli Furfurilactobacillus, Paucilactobacillus, Limosilactobacillus, Fructilactobacillus, Acetilactobacillus, Apilactobacillus, Levilactobacillus, Secundilactobacillus, and Lentilactobacillus, which were previously classified in the genus Lactobacillus; and the heterofermentative genera Convivina, Fructobacillus, Leuconostoc, Oenococcus, and Weissella which were previously classified in the Leuconostocaceae.
The Lactobacillaceae are also the only family of the lactic acid bacteria which does not include pathogenic or opportunistic pathogenic organisms although some species, particularly Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus and Weissella spp. can cause rare infections in critically ill patients.
With the exception of Lactococcus lactis, Streptococcus thermophilus and Tetragenococcus halophilus, most food fermenting lactic acid bacteria are now classified in the Lactobacillaceae.
The grandfathered term lactobacilli refers to all bacteria classified in Lactobacillaceae prior to 2020, i.e. Lactobacillus sensu lato (pre-split), Pediococcus, and Sharpea. Some authors use lactobacilli to refer to Lactobacillus sensu lato only.

## Leuconostocaceae

At one point five genera (Convivina, Fructobacillus, Leuconostoc, Oenococcus and Weissella) were considered a separate family called Leuconostocaceae. These three genera are non-spore-forming, round or elongated in shape, and anaerobic or aerotolerant. They usually inhabit nutrient-rich environments such as milk, meat, vegetable products, and fermented drinks. Lactic acid is the main end product of their characteristic heterofermentative carbohydrate metabolism. In 2020 Leuconostocaceae was synonymized with Lactobacillaceae.

## Phylogeny

The currently accepted taxonomy is based on the List of Prokaryotic names with Standing in Nomenclature (LPSN) and National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI).
| Zheng et al. 2020 | 16S rRNA based LTP_10_2024 | 120 marker proteins based GTDB 09-RS220 |
| Lactobacillaceae Loigolactobacillus Paralactobacillus Latilactobacillus Lacticaseibacillus Schleiferilactobacillus Agrilactobacillus Lapidilactobacillus Bombilactobacillus Companilactobacillus Holzapfelia Lactobacillus Amylolactobacillus Dellaglioa Ligilactobacillus Liquorilactobacillus Pediococcus Furfurilactobacillus Limosilactobacillus Paucilactobacillus Lactiplantibacillus Levilactobacillus Secundilactobacillus Lentilactobacillus Fructilactobacillus Apilactobacillus Acetilactobacillus Weissella formerly Leuconostocaceae Oenococcus Leuconostoc Fructobacillus Convivina | Leuconostocaceae Periweissella Weissella Oenococcus Leuconostoc fallax Convivina Fructobacillus Leuconostoc Lactobacillaceae Paralactobacillus Dellaglioa Ligilactobacillus Liquorilactobacillus Schleiferilactobacillus Holzapfelia Agrilactobacillus Lapidilactobacillus Xylocopilactobacillus Kawasaki et al. 2024 Bombilactobacillus Companilactobacillus Amylolactobacillus Lactobacillus Loigolactobacillus Latilactobacillus Lacticaseibacillus Furfurilactobacillus Paucilactobacillus Limosilactobacillus Pediococcus Lentilactobacillus Acetilactobacillus Nicoliella Fructilactobacillus Philodulcilactobacillus Apilactobacillus Secundilactobacillus [incl. Levilactobacillus bambusae] Lactiplantibacillus Levilactobacillus | Lactobacillaceae Loigolactobacillus Zheng et al. 2020 Paralactobacillus Leisner et al. 2000 Latilactobacillus Zheng et al. 2020 Lacticaseibacillus Zheng et al. 2020 Schleiferilactobacillus Zheng et al. 2020 Agrilactobacillus Zheng et al. 2020 Lapidilactobacillus Zheng et al. 2020 Bombilactobacillus Zheng et al. 2020 Companilactobacillus Zheng et al. 2020 Holzapfelia Deshmukh & Oren 2023 Amylolactobacillus Zheng et al. 2020 Lactobacillus Beijerinck 1901 Dellaglioa Zheng et al. 2020 Liquorilactobacillus Zheng et al. 2020 Ligilactobacillus Zheng et al. 2020 Limosilactobacillus Zheng et al. 2020 Paucilactobacillus Zheng et al. 2020 "Ca. Gallilactobacillus" Gilroy et al. 2021 Furfurilactobacillus Zheng et al. 2020 Periweissella Bello, Rudra & Gupta 2022 Leuconostocaceae Weissella Collins et al. 1994 Oenococcus Dicks, Dellaglio & Collins 1995 Convivina Praet et al. 2015 Fructobacillus Endo & Okada 2008 Leuconostoc van Tieghem 1878 Pediococcus Balcke 1884 ex Claussen 1903 Lactiplantibacillus Zheng et al. 2020 Fructilactobacillus Zheng et al. 2020 Nicoliella Deshmukh & Oren 2023 Philodulcilactobacillus Kouya et al. 2023 Acetilactobacillus Zheng et al. 2020 Apilactobacillus Zheng et al. 2020 Lentilactobacillus Zheng et al. 2020 Secundilactobacillus Zheng et al. 2020 Levilactobacillus Zheng et al. 2020 |
Unassigned genus:
* Eupransor Botero et al. 2024