Query: NC_015978:996933 Lactobacillus sanfranciscensis TMW 1.1304 chromosome, complete
Lineage: Lactobacillus sanfranciscensis; Lactobacillus; Lactobacillaceae; Lactobacillales; Firmicutes; Bacteria
General Information: This is the characteristic organism in wheat sourdough. They are commonly found in the oral, vaginal, and intestinal regions of many animals. They are important industrial microbes that contribute to the production of cheese, yogurt, and other products such as fermented milks, all stemming from the production of lactic acid, which inhibits the growth of other organisms as well as lowering the pH of the food product. Industrial production requires the use of starter cultures, which are carefully cultivated, created, and maintained, which produce specific end products during fermentation that impart flavor to the final product, as well as contributing important metabolic reactions, such as the breakdown of milk proteins during cheese production. The end product of fermentation, lactic acid, is also being used as a starter molecule for complex organic molecule syntheses.
Subject: NC_010001:4168817 Clostridium phytofermentans ISDg, complete genome
Lineage: Lachnoclostridium phytofermentans; Lachnoclostridium; Lachnospiraceae; Clostridiales; Firmicutes; Bacteria
General Information: Isolated from forest soil near the Quabbin Reservoir in Massachusetts, USA. This organism plays an important industrial and ecological role in the anaerobic fermentation of cellulose and produces economically significant levels of acetate and ethanol. This genus comprises about 150 metabolically diverse species of anaerobes that are ubiquitous in virtually all anoxic habitats where organic compounds are present, including soils, aquatic sediments and the intestinal tracts of animals and humans. This shape is attributed to the presence of endospores that develop under conditions unfavorable for vegetative growth and distend single cells terminally or sub-terminally. Spores germinate under conditions favorable for vegetative growth, such as anaerobiosis and presence of organic substrates. It is believed that present day Mollicutes (Eubacteria) have evolved regressively (i.e., by genome reduction) from gram-positive clostridia-like ancestors with a low GC content in DNA.