A Study of the Species Lactobacillus plantarum (Orla-Jensen) Bergey et al

Abstract

In systematic work it is essential that the characters used to define species shall be of such a nature that at least the majority of the strains can be properly and readily identified. In only relatively few cases have descriptions of species of bacteria been sufficiently comprehensive to include even known variations and, as a result, new strains or variants of species are frequently described as new species. For such reasons it was found difficult to arrange a key for the species of the genus Lactobacillus for Bergey's Manual of Determinative Bacteriology (1934). Many so-called species could not be separated from one another. This situation was particularly evident in those species of non-gas-producing organisms normally found in plant materials or in soil. In a study of over four hundred strains of non-gas-producing organisms isolated from fermenting substances no characters were observed which could satisfactorily be used to separate the cultures into groups that corresponded to described species. It seemed, therefore, that nearly all of the descriptions that have been given are not only too incomplete, but are also too restricted in nature and that more inclusive descriptions should be used. The description of the species Streptobacterium plantarum Orla-Jensen (1919) syn. Lactobacillus plantarum Bergey et al., is the