Weissella


Weissella is a genus of gram-positive bacteria placed within the family Lactobacillaceae, formerly considered species of the Leuconostoc paramesenteroides group. The morphology of Weissella species varies from spherical or lenticular cells to irregular rods. Several strains of Weissella cibaria and Weissella confusa have shown probiotic potential. In particular, the cell-free culture supernatant of Weissella confusa shows a number of beneficial characteristics, such as antibacterial potential and anti-inflammatory efficiency. However, several strains of W. confusa are opportunistic bacteria. A number of studies have been done on the safety of the bacterial species, indicating their probiotic potential. The Senate Commission on Food Safety has validated the use of W. confusa in food.

Species

The genus Weissella comprises the following species:Weissella bombi Praet et al. 2015Weissella ceti Vela et al. 2011Weissella cibaria Björkroth et al. 2002Weissella coleopterorum Hyun et al. 2021Weissella confusa corrig. Collins et al. 1994Weissella diestrammenae Oh et al. 2013Weissella fangxianensis Xiang et al. 2023Weissella halotolerans Collins et al. 1994Weissella hellenica Collins et al. 1994Weissella kandleri Collins et al. 1994Weissella koreensis Lee et al. 2002Weissella minor Collins et al. 1994Weissella muntiaci Lin et al. 2020Weissella oryzae Tohno et al. 2013Weissella paramesenteroides Collins et al. 1994Weissella sagaensis Li et al. 2020Weissella soli Magnusson et al. 2002Weissella thailandensis Tanasupawat et al. 2000Weissella uvarum Nisiotou et al. 2014Weissella viridescens Collins et al. 1994

Phylogeny

The currently accepted taxonomy is based on the List of Prokaryotic names with Standing in Nomenclature and the phylogeny is based on whole-genome sequences.