REVIEW article

Front. Microbiol., 11 December 2023

Sec. Food Microbiology

Volume 14 - 2023 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2023.1289937

The Weissella and Periweissella genera: up-to-date taxonomy, ecology, safety, biotechnological, and probiotic potential

  • 1. National Research Council, Institute of Sciences of Food Production (CNR-ISPA), Bari, Italy

  • 2. Department of Environmental Biology, “Sapienza” University of Rome, Rome, Italy

  • 3. Department of Microbiology and Biotechnology, Max Rubner-Institut, Kiel, Germany

Abstract

Bacteria belonging to the genera Weissella and Periweissella are lactic acid bacteria, which emerged in the last decades for their probiotic and biotechnological potential. In 2015, an article reviewing the scientific literature till that date on the taxonomy, ecology, and biotechnological potential of the Weissella genus was published. Since then, the number of studies on this genus has increased enormously, several novel species have been discovered, the taxonomy of the genus underwent changes and new insights into the safety, and biotechnological and probiotic potential of weissellas and periweissellas could be gained. Here, we provide an updated overview (from 2015 until today) of the taxonomy, ecology, safety, biotechnological, and probiotic potential of these lactic acid bacteria.

History and up-to-date taxonomy of Weissella and Periweissella

The genus Weissella was first described by Collins et al. (1993), who isolated a group of Leuconostoc-like microorganisms during a survey of the lactic acid microbiota of dry naturally fermented Greek sausage. The novel genus was named Weissella M.L. dim. fem. after Norbert Weiss, acknowledged microbiologist which largely contributed to the lactic acid bacteria (LAB) taxonomy. In this first description, seven species were biochemically characterized and differentiated by 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis: W. confusa comb. nov. (described in Holzapfel and Kandler, 1969; Kandler and Weiss, 1986) W. halotolerans comb. nov. (described in Kandler et al., 1983), W. kandleri (described in Holzapfel and van Wyk, 1982), W. minor comb. nov. (described in Kandler et al., 1983), W. paramesenteroides (described by Garvie, 1967, 1986), W. viridescens (described by Niven and Evans, 1957; Kandler and Weiss, 1986), which is the type species of this genus, and W. hellenica sp. nov. (Collins et al., 1993). Sources of isolation and type strains are indicated in Table 1.

Table 1

SpeciesType strainSource of isolationReference accession16S rRNAAssigned by
P. beninensisDSM 22752TSubmerged fermenting cassava, BeninJAGMVS010000000EU439435Padonou et al., 2010
W. bombiDSM 28794TBumble bee gut, BelgiumNZ_FMAO00000000.1LK054487Praet et al., 2015
W. cetiCCUG 59653Tbeaked whales (Mesoplodon bidens), USANZ_ANCA01000000.1FN813251Vela et al., 2011
W. cibariaCCUG 41967TChili Bo, MalaysiaNZ_VNGZ01000000.1AJ295989Björkroth et al., 2002
W. coleopterorumHDW19Tintestine of diving beetle (Cybister lewisianus), South KoreaNZ_CP049888.1MN099422Hyun et al., 2021
W. confusaATCC 10881TCabbage, IndiaNZ_CP027563.1AB023241Collins et al., 1993
P. cryptocerci26KH-42Tgut of Cryptocercus kyebangensis, South KoreaNZ_CP037940.1MK395366Heo et al., 2019
W. diestrammenaeDSM 27940Tgut of a camel cricket (Diestrammena coreana), South KoreaJAGMVT010000000JQ646523Oh et al., 2013
P. fabalisLMG 26217TFermented cocoa beans, BrazilJAGMVU010000000HE576795Snauwaert et al., 2013
P. fabariaLMG 24286TFermented cocoa beans, GhanaJAGMVV010000000FM179678De Bruyne et al., 2010
P. ghanensisDSM 19935TFermented cocoa beans, GhanaJAGMVW010000000AM882997De Bruyne et al., 2008
W. fangxianensisHBUAS51963TRice wine starter, ChinaJAMXDB000000000OM943160Xiang et al., 2023
W. halotoleransATCC 35410TGreek fermented sausagesNZ_ATUU01000000.1AB022926Collins et al., 1993
W. hellenicaATCC 51523TGreek fermented sausagesNZ_JAAXPM010000000.1X95981Collins et al., 1993
W. kandleriATCC 51149TSpring in Namib Desert, NamibiaNZ_JQBP01000000.1AB022922Collins et al., 1993
W. koreensisCCUG 47134TKimchi, South KoreaNZ_AKGG01000000.1AY035891Lee et al., 2002
W. minorATCC 35412TMilking machine slimeNZ_JQCD01000000.1AB022920Collins et al., 1993
W. muntiaci8 H-2Tfeces of muntjacs, Formosan barking deer, South KoreaNZ_SDGZ01000000.1MK774696Lin et al., 2020
W. oryzaeDSM 25784TFermented rice grain, JapanNZ_DF820484.1AB690345Tohno et al., 2013
W. paramesenteroidesATCC 33313THuman intestinal microbiotaACKU01000000.1X95982Collins et al., 1993
W. sagaensisCCM 8924TTraditional yogurt, ChinaBLKA01000001.1LC438526Li et al., 2020
W. soliCCUG 46608TGarden soil, SwedenNZ_CP017326.1AY028260Magnusson et al., 2002
W. thailandensisCCUG 46557TFermented fish, ThailandNZ_BJEC01000000.1MT760016Tanasupawat et al., 2000
W. uvarumB18NM42TGrapes, GreekJAGMVX010000000KF999666Nisiotou et al., 2014
W. viridescensATCC 12706TCured meat product, ChinaNZ_CP061835.1X52568Collins et al., 1993

List of Weissella and Periweissella species described to date.

In 2000, Tanasupawat et al. (2000) isolated some LAB from fermented fish in Thailand whose DNA–DNA genetic relatedness toward the previously described Weissella species allowed the authors to assign them as W. thailandensis sp. nov. and identified the type strain as FS61-1T. In 2002, three additional species were described and included into the Weissella genus: W. cibaria, W. soli, and W. koreensis. W. cibaria was described by Björkroth et al. (2002): The authors selected 37 isolates, from humans and animal clinical samples as well as from foods sold in Malaysia and differentiated this species based on DNA–DNA reassociation experiments, which showed hybridization levels below 49% toward W. confusa. The type strain of this species is W. cibaria CCUG 41967T, which was isolated from the popular food ingredient Chili Bo. W. soli was isolated from garden soil by Magnusson et al. (2002) and showed relatedness to W. kandleri and W. confusa (95.5 and 95.3% 16S rRNA gene sequence identity, respectively). Lee et al. (2002) isolated from kimchi (a Korean fermented vegetable food) some strains with 97.2% 16S rRNA gene sequence identity to W. kandleri. The novel species was named W. koreensis, and the designated type strain was KCTC 3621T.

In 2010, Padonou et al. (2010) characterized the novel species W. beninensis sp. nov., isolated from submerged fermenting cassava in Ketou, Benin, and, since this species was demonstrated as being motile, they emended the description of Weissella genus that until then only comprised non-motile species. W. fabaria and W. fabalis were described in De Bruyne et al. (2010) and Snauwaert et al. (2013), respectively. W. fabaria LMG 24289T was isolated from traditional heap fermentations of Ghanaian cocoa beans and, although it showed 99.5% 16S rRNA gene sequence identity toward W. ghanensis LMG 24286T, DNA–DNA hybridization and metabolic characteristics recognize them as a separate species. W. fabalis LMG 26217T was isolated from a Brazilian cocoa bean fermentation and had the highest 16S rRNA gene sequence identity toward W. fabaria LMG 24289T (97.7 %). The confirmation that this strain could have been recognized as a novel species was achieved by pheS gene sequence analysis, DNA–DNA hybridization, the MALDI-TOF MS profile, and biochemical analysis.

W. diestrammenae was isolated from the gut of a camel cricket (Diestrammena coreana) in 2013 by Oh et al. (2013) and showed the highest 16S rRNA gene sequence identity to W. koreensis (97.7 %). The type strain of this species is W. diestrammenae DSM 27940T. In the same period, Tohno et al. (2013) conducted a taxonomic study on SG25T and SG23. These LAB strains, Gram-positive and catalase-negative, were isolated from grains of fermented Japanese rice (Oryza sativa L. subsp. japonica). Genetic analysis showed that W. soli was the closest relative to this novel W. oryzae species (96.9% of 16S rRNA gene sequence identity). W. uvarum was described in 2014 by Nisiotou et al., who isolated this species while studying the microbiota of wine grapes (Vitis vinifera L.) from the Nemea region in Greece. Although W. uvarum 16S rRNA gene sequence showed a high identity to that of W. minor NRIC 1625T (99.1 %), the isolated strains were assigned to a novel species for their capacity to grow at 42°C and to ferment specific carbohydrates, by using a genetic approach including randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD), restriction enzyme analysis-pulse field gel electrophoresis (REA-PFGE), and repetitive sequence-based PCR (rep-PCR analyses).

The name W. bombi was assigned by Praet et al. (2015) to a novel LAB isolated from the bumble bee gut in the region of Ghent, Belgium, which showed a 99.6% 16S sequence identity to that of W. hellenica LMG 15125T. The analysis of the pheS gene sequences, DNA G+C content analysis, (GTG)5-PCR fingerprinting, DNA–DNA hybridization experiments, and a biochemical characterization led to the assignment of this novel species, whose type strain is LMG 28290T. W. ceti was first isolated in 2011 by Vela et al. (2011) within a study aimed at assessing the microbiota of beaked whales (Mesoplodon bidens). The type strain of this species is CCUG 59653T. In 2019, Heo et al. (2019) isolated from the gut of an insect, Cryptocercus kyebangensis sampled from mountains in South Korea, a novel organism that in a 16S rRNA gene phylogenetic tree analysis clustered with W. ghanensis, W. beninensis, W. fabaria, and W. fabalis-type strains and showed a sequence identity of 95.9% with both W. beninensis 2L24P13T and W. ghanensis LMG 24286T. Genomic and phenotypic analyses allowed the description of the novel species W. cryptocerci.

W. muntiaci was characterized by Lin et al. (2020), who isolated this Gram-positive strain from feces of a barking deer (Muntiacus reevesi) in Taiwan. W. muntiaci 8H-2T showed a 16S rRNA gene sequence identity with the type strains of W. oryzae, W. confusa, W. cibaria, and W. soli of 99.2, 97.8, 97.6, and 97.3 %, respectively. In the same year, Li et al. (2020) characterized three Gram-positive bacterial strains, named as X0750T, X0401, and X0278. The type strain, isolated from a traditional yogurt of the Chines Saga County, showed a 16S rRNA gene sequence 94.4–100 % identical to that of the type strains of W. hellenica, W. bombi, W. paramesenteroides, W. jogaejeotgali, W. thailandensis, W. oryzae, W. cibaria, and W. confusa. The resulting novel species was designated as W. sagaensis.

In 2021, Hyun et al. (2021) isolated some weissellas from the intestine of the diving beetle Cybister lewisianus that showed 98.9% 16S rRNA gene sequence identity and 79.5% ANI to W. koreensis KCTC 3621T. Based on phylogenetic, chemotaxonomic, phenotypic, and genotypic analyses, named this novel species W. coleopterorum, whose type strain is HDW19T.

Until 2022, the genus counted 26 species, including W. jogaejeotgali which was described by Lee et al. (2015b), but then was identified as a later heterotypic synonym of W. thailandensis, described by Tanasupawat et al. (2000), as well as W. kimchi, which was first described by Choi et al. (2002), but later correctly identified as the later heterotypic synonym of W. cibaria (Ennahar and Cai, 2004), described by Björkroth et al. (2002).

In 2022, Bello et al. (2022) revised the taxonomy of the genera Leuconostoc, Convivina, Oenococcus, Fructobacillus, and Weissella by using the concatenated sequences of 498 core proteins and the 16S rRNA gene phylogeny. The authors then transferred five species that clustered in a separate clade from the genus Weissella into the proposed novel genus Periweissella (P.): P. cryptocerci (basonym W. cryptocerci; Heo et al., 2019), P. beninensis (basonym W. beninensis; Padonou et al., 2010), P. fabalis (basonym W. fabalis; Snauwaert et al., 2013), P. fabaria (basonym W. fabaria; De Bruyne et al., 2010), and P. ghanensis (basonym W. ghanensis; De Bruyne et al., 2010) (Table 1). The same assumption was achieved by Fanelli et al. (2022) who, in the same year, showed that Weissella species could be clustered into six different species groups by a genome-based phylogenomic analysis, with one including the five species that Bello proposed as belonging to a separate novel genus. Furthermore, the phylogenomic species group clustering, in many cases, overlapped with the carbohydrate metabolism pathways (Fanelli et al., 2022).

In 2023, a novel species, namely W. fangxianensis sp. nov., was described by Xiang et al. (2023), who isolated three LAB strains from rice wine starter used in Fangxian County (China). This novel species was described using a polyphasic approach, based on genomic and metabolic analyses. Both 16S rRNA gene sequence and genomic phylogeny placed this species close to W. thailandensis and W. paramesenteroides. The type strain of this species is HBUAS51963T (Table 1).

Both the Weissella and Periweissella genera are members of the phylum Bacillota, class Bacilli, order Lactobacillales, and family Lactobacillaceae, recently revised by Zheng et al. (2020), who merged it with the Leuconostocaceae family.

Descriptions of species in the genus Weissella

All Weissella, such as other LAB, are Gram-positive and catalase-negative. They occur in short rods with tapered rounded ends or ovoid cells (Collins et al., 1993; Björkroth et al., 2014), and they have a tendency toward pleomorphism. Weissellas do not produce spores, and they are facultatively anaerobic chemoorganotrophs fermenting glucose heterofermentatively by way of the hexose-monophosphate and phosphoketolase pathways that deliver lactic acid as end products [dl or d(-), depending on the species], carbon dioxide, and ethanol and/or acetic acid. For their growth, weissellas have an obligate need for vitamins, peptides, amino acids, fatty acids, nucleic acids, and fermentable carbohydrates. Not all Weissella species hydrolyze arginine. Growth at 15°C has been detected for all weissellas, while only some species are able to grow at 42–45°C (Björkroth et al., 2014). All Weissella strains are able to utilize maltotriose, d-fructose, N-acetyl-d-glucosamine, turanose, d-mannose, and α-d glucose palatinose. The peptidoglycan of weissellas typically contains lysine as diamino acid and apart from W. kandleri which contains also glycine, and all weissellas contain alanine or alanine and serine in the interpeptide bridge (Holzapfel and van Wyk, 1982).

There are currently 20 Weissella species which, based on phylogenomic comparison by Fanelli et al. (2022) and the genomic data available for the W. fangxianensis species (Xiang et al., 2023), can be grouped into five species groups, i.e., the W. kandleri species group (W. kandleri, W. soli, W. diestrammenae, W. coleopterorum, W. koreensis), the W. oryzae species group (W. oryzae, W. muntiaci), the W. halotolerans group (W. halotolerans, W. ceti, W. uvarum, W. minor, W. viridescens), the W. confusa species group (W. confusa, W. cibaria), and the W. paramesenteroides species group (W. thailandensis, W. fangxianensis, W. paramesenteroides, W. bombi, W. hellenica, and W. sagaensis). The description of the type species and species in alphabetical order follows below.

Description of the type species:

Weissella viridescens (Niven and Evans, 1957) Collins, Samelis, Metaxopoulos, and Wallbanks 1993 601AL

Synonyms: Lactobacillus viridescens Niven and Evans 1957, p. 758; Lactobacillus corynoides subsp. corynoides Kandler and Abo-Elnaga, 1966, p. 573. Note that in the Approved List of Bacterial Names L. viridescens is incorrectly cited as Lactobacillus viridescens Kandler and Abo-Elnaga 1966, p. 573. For this strain, the utilization of sucrose concomitant with a possible production of dextran has not been studied.

vi.ri.des'cens. M.L. pres. part. viridescens, growing green, greening.

W. viridescens cells, which are non-motile, appear as irregular rods, occurring singly or in pairs, with rounded tapered ends. The interpeptide bridge of the peptidoglycan contains lysine, alanine, and serine. W. viridescens produces dl lactic acid from glucose, whereas it does not utilize arginine. The type strain (ATCC 12706T = DSM 20410T = LMG 3507T) was isolated from a discolored meat product. The mol% GC of the DNA is 41–44, and the GenBank accession nos. for the 16S rRNA gene sequence are ABO23236, M23040, and X52568.

Description of other Weissella species:

Weissella bombi Praet, Meeus, Cnockaert, Houf, Smagghe, and Vandamme 2015, 2022VP

bom'bi. L. n. bombus a boom, a deep hollow noise, buzzing, also the zoological genus name of the bumble bee: N.L. gen. n. bombi of Bombus, of a bumble bee.

Cells, which are non-motile, occur as elongated cocci, in pairs or chains. W. bombi does not grow at 45°C and produces d(-) lactic acid from glucose. The type strain, isolated from the gut of a B. terrestris bumble bee, is LMG 28290T (=DSM 28794T). The mol% GC content of the DNA is 37.2, and the GenBank 16S rRNA gene sequence accession number is LK054487.

Weissella ceti Vela, Fernández, Bernaldo de Quirós, Háerrez, Domínguez, and Fernández-Garayzábal, 2011, 2760VP

ce.ti. L. gen. n. ceti of a whale.

W. ceti are short rod-shaped or coccoid cells, which are non-motile and occur singly or in pairs. It can grow at 22°C and 37°C but not at 15°C or 42°C. W. ceti produces dl lactic acid from glucose and does not produce dextran from sucrose. The type strain hydrolyzes arginine, while this feature is variable among the other strains of this species. The type strain, isolated from the spleen of a beaked whale (Mesoplodon bidens), is CECT 7719T = LMG 30639T. The DNA G+C content of the type strain is 39.2 mol%, and the GenBank accession no. of the 16S rRNA nucleotide sequence is FN813251.

Weissella cibaria Björkroth, Schillinger, Geisen, Weiss, Hoste, Holzapfel, Korkeala, and Vandamme 2002, 147VP

ci.ba'ri.a. L. adj. cibaria, pertaining to food.

W. cibaria cells are non-motile and occur as short rods in pairs. The interpeptide bridge structure is Lys-Ala-(Ser)-Ala. W. cibaria produces dl lactic acid from glucose and grows at 45°C and 15°C but not at 4°C. It produces ammonia from arginine and dextran from sucrose. The type strain, isolated from Malaysian chili bo, is DSM 15878T = LMG 17699T. It has a mol% GC content of the DNA of 44, and the 16S rRNA gene sequence GenBank accession n. is AJ295989.

Weissella coleopterorum Hyun, Lee, Sung, Kim, Jeong, Lee, Yun, Choi, Han, Lee, Tak, Kim, and Bae 2021, 10VP

co.le.o.pte.ro'rum. N.L. gen. pl. n. coleopterorum of Coleoptera, the name of the order of the beetles from which the strain was first isolated.

W. coleopterorum cells are typically non-motile and rod-shaped. It grows at 4–37°C. The amino acids in the peptidoglycan structure are alanine and lysine. Its DNA has a mol% GC content of 37.2%. The type strain isolated from the intestine of the diving beetle Cybister lewisianus is JCM 33684T = KCTC 43114T. The GenBank/EMBL/DDBJ accession number of the 16S rRNA gene sequence of the type strain is MN099422.

Weissella confusa Collins, Samelis, Metaxopoulos, and Wallbanks 1993, 599AL

Synonyms: Lactobacillus confusus Garvie and Tilbury 1972, p. 396; Lactobacillus coprophilus subsp. confusus Holzapfel and Kandler 1969, p. 665.

con.fu'sus. L. v. confundere to confuse: L. past. part. confusus confused.

W. confusa has non-motile cells occurring as short rods, singly or (rarely) in short chains, with a tendency to be thicker at one of the ends. Lys-Ala is the amino acid that occurs in the interpeptide bridge of the peptidoglycan structure. The lactic acid enantiomers produced from glucose metabolism are dl. Growth at 45°C is variable with some strains capable of good growth at this temperature. Dextran is produced from sucrose and ammonia from arginine. The type strain, isolated from sugar cane, is DSM 20196T = ATCC 10881T = LMG 9497T. The DNA has a mol% GC content of 45–47, and the 16S rRNA gene sequence GenBank accession nos. are AB023241 and M23036.

Weissella diestrammenae Oh, Shin, Hyun, Kim, Kim, Kim, Yun, and Bae 2013, 2954VP

di.es.tram.me'nae. N.L. gen. n. diestrammenae of Diestrammina, referring to Diestrammena coreana, a camel cricket from the gut of which this bacterium was isolated.

W. diestrammenae does not exhibit motility, and the cell's morphologies are coccoid or rod-shaped. It is capable of growth at 4–37°C in 0 to 4% NaCl. The bacteria can hydrolyze arginine to ammonia and produce d(-) lactic acid from glucose. The amino acids in the cell wall are Lys-Ala-Ser. The DNA has mol% GC content of 45, and the type strain, isolated from the gut of a camel cricket (Diestrammenae coreana) in South Korea, is JCM 18559T = DSM 27940T = LMG 30643T. The GenBank/EMBL/DDBJ accession number for the 16S rRNA gene of the type strain is JQ646523.

Weissella fangxianensis Xiang, Dong, Cai, Zhao, Liu, Shan, and Guo 2023, e005870, 7VP

fang. xian. en'is. N.L. fem. adj. fangxianensis pertaining to Fangxian county, a city located in Hubei Province, PR China, where the type strain was first isolated.

Cells are non-motile, non-spore-forming and spherical. Growth occurs at 15–37°C but not at 10°C or 40°C, with optimum between 25 and 35°C. The genomic DNA mol% GC content is 38.6 mol%. The type strain, isolated from rice wine starter in Fangxian county Hubei Province, PR China, in 2021, is GDMCC 1.3506T = JCM 35803T.

Weissella halotolerans Collins, Samelis, Metaxopoulos, and Wallbanks 1993, 599VP

Synonym: Lactobacillus halotolerans Kandler, Schillinger and Weiss, 1983, 672. Effective publication: kandler, Schillinger and Weisss, 1983, p. 283.

ha.lo.to'le.rans. Gr. n. hals, halos salt; L. part. adj. tolerans, tolerating, enduring; N.L. part.adj. halotolerans, salt-tolerating.

W. halotolerans does not exhibit motility and cells appear as irregular, short or even coccoid rods, with rounded to tapered ends with a tendency to form coiling chains. Cells were observed also to clump together. Lys-Ala-Ser is the amino acid composition of the interpeptide bridge of the peptidoglycan structure. W. halotolerans produces dl lactic acid from glucose and does not grow at 45°C, whereas it grows in 12% NaCl, with very weak growth occurring at 14% NaCl. Arginine is not metabolized, and dextran production from sucrose has not been investigated.

Weissella hellenica Collins, Samelis, Metaxopoulos, and Wallbanks 1993

hel.le'ni.ca. Gr. masc. adj. hellênikos, Greek; N.L. fem. adj. hellenica, Greece, from where the bacterium was first isolated.

The non-motile cells of this species are spherical but sometimes also show a lenticular morphology and generally occur in pairs or short chains. A tendency to associate in clusters was observed. W. hellenica grow at 10°C and 4°C (delayed) but not at 37°C. All strains produce d(-) lactic acid from glucose. W. hellenica does not hydrolyze arginine and does not produce slime from sucrose. The cell wall murein is type Lys-L-Ala-L-Ser(L-Ala). The DNA base compositions of strains ranged between 39.4 and 40.0 mol% GC, respectively, and the type strain, isolated from fermented sausages, is NCFB 2973F = DSM 7378T = LMG 15125T. The 16S ribosomal gene GenBank accession number is NR_118771.1.

Weissella kandleri Collins, Samelis, Metaxopoulos, and Wallbanks 1993, 599VP

Synonym: Lactobacillus kandleri Holzapfel and van Wyk 1983, 439. Effective publication: Holzapfel and van Wyk 1982, 501.

kand'le.ri. M.L. gen. n. kandleri, of Kandler; named for O. Kandler, a German microbiologist.

W. kandleri cells were observed to be non-motile of partly irregular rod shape, and they were found to occur singly as well as in in pairs but seldom in short chains. Lys-Ala-Gly-Ala2 was the amino acid determined to occur in the interpeptide bridge of the peptidoglycan structure. W. kandleri produces dl lactic acid from glucose, ammonia from arginine, and dextran from sucrose. It does not grow at 45°C. The type strain, isolated from a desert spring, is DSM 20595T = LMG 18979T which has a 39 mol% GC content in the DNA. The GenBank accession numbers of the 16S rRNA gene are AB022922 and M23038.

Weissella koreensis Lee, Lee, Ahn, Mheen, Pyun, and Park 2002, 1260VP

ko.re.en'sis. N.L. adj. koreensis of Korea, where the novel organisms were isolated.

Cells are irregular, short, and rod-shaped or coccoid. No growth occurs at 42°C, but it grows at 10 and 37°C. It is capable of arginine hydrolysis and production of dextran from sucrose and d(-) lactic acid from glucose metabolism. The DNA has a G-C content of 37 mol%, and the cell wall was shown to contain Lys-Ala-Ser. The type strain, isolated from the traditional Korean fermented vegetable kimchee, is DSM 15830T = KCCM 41516T = JCM 11263T. The 16S rDNA sequences of the type strain have the GenBank/EMBL/DDBJ accession number AY035891.

Weissella minor Collins, Samelis, Metaxopoloulos, and Wallbanks 1993, 599VP

Synonyms: Lactobacillus minor (Kandler, Schillinger and Weiss 1983, 672. Effective publication: Kandler, Schillinger and Weiss, 1983, 284. (Lactobacillus corynoides subsp. minor Abo-Elnaga and Kandler 1965, 128; Lactobacillus viridescens subsp. minor Kandler and Abo-Elnaga, 1966, 754).

mi'nor. L. comp. adj. minor smaller.

W. minor shows non-motile cells appearing as irregular short rods, occurring in pairs or short chains, with rounded to tapered ends often bent with unilateral swellings. The amino acid composition of the peptidoglycan structure is Lys-Ser-Ala2. It produces dl lactate from glucose and ammonia from arginine but does not produce dextran from sucrose. It does not grow at 45°C. The mol% GC content of the DNA is 44, and the type strain, which stems from the sludge of milking machines, is DSM 20014T = LMG 9847T. The GenBank accession no. of the 16S rRNA gene is M23039.

Weissella muntiaci Lin, Wang, Wu, Guu, Tamura, Mori, Huang, and Watanabe 2020, 1581VP

mun.ti′a.ci. N.L. gen. n. muntiaci of Muntiacus, a genus of the muntjacs, barking deer of Taiwan, from which the type strain was isolated.

W. muntiaci shows non-motile cells appearing as short rods occurring singly and rarely in pairs. It grows at 10 to 37°C but not at 4, 45, and 50°C. It produces ammonia from arginine and d(-) lactic acid from glucose. The amino acid composition of the peptidoglycan structure is A3α (l-Lys–l-Ala–l-Ser) with the presence of Glu, Ser, Ala, and Lys in a molar ratio of 1: 1: 3:1. The type strain was obtained from the feces of the Formosan barking deer. This feces were collected in the Fushan Botanical Garden, Yilan County, Taiwan, in 2017. The type strain is BCRC 81133T = NBRC 113537T. The genomic mol% GC content is 40.5. The 16S rRNA gene sequence of the type strain has the GenBank/EMBL/DDBJ accession number MK774696.

Weissella oryzae Thono, Kitahara, Inoue, Uegaki, Irisawa, Ohkuma, and Tajima 2013, 1418VP

o.ry'za.e. L. gen. n. oryzae of rice, from which the type strain was isolated.

W. oryzae shows non-motile cells that are irregular, short rod-shaped, or coccoid and occur singly or in pairs and/or short chains. The peptidoglycan structure consists of glutamic acid, lysine, serine, and alanine. W. oryzae grows at 10–42°C but not at 4 or 50°C. It is a facultatively anaerobic lactic acid bacterium that does not produce dextran from sucrose and produces d(-) from glucose. The type strain DSM 25784T = LMG 30913T originates from fermented rice grain that was obtained in Tochigi, Japan. This strain has a DNA with mol%GC content of 40.6 mol%, while its 16S rRNA gene sequence has the GenBank/EMBL/DDBJ accession number AB690345.

Weissella paramesenteroides Collins, Samelis, Metaxopoulos, and Wallbanks 1993, 601AL (Leuconostoc paramesenteroides Garvie 1967, p. 446)

pa.ra.me.sen.ter.oi'des. Gr. prep. para resembling; M.L. mesenteroides a specific epithet; M.L. adj. paramesenteroides, resembling Leuconostoc mesenteroides.

W. paramesenteroides has non-motile cells that are spherical but often also lenticular, occurring in pairs and chains. It grows at 30°C but optimally at 18–24°C. Lys-Ala2 or Lys-Ser-Ala2 is the amino acid occurring in the peptidoglycan structure. W. paramesenteroides produces d(-) lactate from glucose but not ammonium from arginine and dextran from sucrose. The DNA of the species has a mol% GC content ranging from 37 to 38, and the type strain, that originated from a dairy source, is DSM 20288T = LMG 9852T. The GenBank accession nos. for the 16S rRNA gene are AB023238, M23033, and X95982.

Weissella sagaensis Li, Tian, and Gu 2020, 2491VP

sa. ga. en′sis. N.L. fem. adj. sagaensis, pertaining to Saga County, a county located in Tibet Autonomous Region, PR China, where the bacterium was isolated.

W. sagaensis are non-motile cells which appear as rods that can occur singly, in pairs or in short chains. This bacterium can grow at 10–37°C but not at 5 or 45°C. It produces d(-) lactate from glucose and does not hydrolyze arginine. The interpeptide bridge contains serine and alanine. The DNA of the type strain has a mol% GC of 36.7. The culture collection numbers for the type strain are NCIMB 15192T = LMG 31184T, and the 16S rRNA gene sequence is stored in GenBank/ENA/DDBJ under the accession number LC438526.

Weissella soli Magnusson, Jonsson, Schnürer, and Roos 2002, 833VP

so'li. L. n. solum soil; L. gen. n. soli, of the soil.

W. soli shows non-motile cells, occurring singly or in pairs, that are rod-shaped and often thickened at one end. The composition of the interpeptide bridge of the peptidoglycan structure is not known. W. soli produces d(-) lactate from glucose, dextran from sucrose, and not ammonia from arginine. It grows at 4–40°C but not at 45°C. The type strain that stems from soil is DSM 14420T = LMG 20113T, and the DNA of this strain has a mol% GC content of 43. The GenBank accession no. of the 16S rRNA gene is AY028260.

Weissella thailandensis Tanasupawat, Shida, Okada, and Komagata 2000, 1484VP

thai.lan'den.sis M.L. fem. adj. thailandensis pertaining to Thailand, where the strains were first isolated.

W. thailandensis occurs as non-motile coccoid cells arranged either in pairs or chains. d(-) is the major lactic acid enantiomer produced from glucose. It does not hydrolyze arginine and does not produce slime from sucrose. It grows at 25 to 37°C but not at 42°C, and the peptidoglycan structure contains l-Lys-l-Ala. The strains of this species have mol% GC contents of their DNA ranging from 38 ± 0 to 41.2. The type strain stems from pla-ra which is a Thai fermented fish and received the culture collection numbers DSM 15832T = LMG 19821T = JCM 10695T. The DDBJ accession number for the 16S rRNA gene sequence of the type strain is AB023838.

Weissella uvarum Nisiotou, Dourou, Filippoussi, Banilas, and Tassou 2014, 3889VP

u.va'rum. L. fem. gen. pl. n. uvarum of grapes, where the type strain was isolated.

W. uvarum has non-motile cells appearing as cocci or short rods that occur singly, in pairs or short chains. It can grow at both 15 and 42°C but not at 4 or 45°C. It produces d(-) lactate from glucose, ammonia from arginine, and not dextran from sucrose. The type strain of this species is the only strain among weissellas and periweissellas to utilize d-arabitol and d-sorbitol (Fanelli et al., 2022). The mol% GC of the DNA is 39.1, and the type strain, isolated from grapes from the region of Nemea located in Greece, is DSM 28060T = LMG 30647T. The GenBank/EMBL/DDBJ accession number for the 16S rRNA gene sequence of the type strain is KF999666.

Description of the genus Periweissella

Bello et al. (2022) showed Weissella species to occur in two distinct clades in a core protein tree derived from the genomes, and comparative analyses, furthermore, identified various conserved signature indels in signature specific for the members of the two clades. The Weissellas, therefore, could be shown not to constitute a monophyletic group but instead comprise two distinct and unrelated clades, namely, a “main clade” and “clade 2.” The clade 2 Weissellas shared the presence of five conserved signature indels in the proteins amidophosphoribosyltransferase protein, DEAD/DEAH box helicase, ArgR family transcriptional regulator, Flp pilus assembly complex ATPase component (TadA), and hydroxyethylthiazole kinase. Species of clade 2 were thus proposed to belong to a novel genus, i.e., Periweissella gen. nov. (Bello et al., 2022). Periweissellas are Gram-positive and obligately heterofermentative bacteria that appear as non-spore-forming short rods or cocci. They grow at temperatures 15–37°C (optimum 28–30°C), and their DNA has a mol% GC content ranging from 35.4 to 41.1. Several species of this genus may hydrolyze arginine (Bello et al., 2022). The P. beninensis, P. fabalis-, P. fabaria-, and P. ghanensis-type strains are capable of utilizing α-ketobutyric acid, glycyl-l-methionine, and pyruvic acids, while only P. fabaria and P. fabalis are able to utilize d-malic acid, i-erythritol, and d-trehalose. The P. fabaria-type strain is the only strain among these which is able to utilize formic acid, while the P. fabalis-type strain metabolizes fumaric acid, glycyl-l-glutamine, and α-cyclodextrin (Fanelli et al., 2022).

Recent studies demonstrate that with the exception of P. cryptocerci, all Periweissella species possess genetic loci coding for flagellar-related proteins (Fanelli et al., 2023a; Qiao et al., 2023), and flagellar structures have been detected in P. beninensis-, P. ghanensis-, P. fabalis-, and P. fabaria-type strains (Qiao et al., 2023).

Pe. ri. weiss. el'la. Gr. prep. peri, about, around or nearby; N.L. fem. dim. n. Weissella, a bacterial genus named after Norbert Weiss, a German microbiologist; N.L. fem. dim. n. Periweissella, a genus about or nearby Weissella.

Description of the type species:

Periweissella ghanensis Bello, Rudra, and Gupta 2022, 16VP

Synonym Weissella ghanensis De Bruyne, Camu, Lefebvre, de Vuyst, and Vandamme 2008, 2723vp

gha.nen'sis. N.L. fem. adj. ghanensis, pertaining to Ghana.

Cells are small rods appearing singly, in pairs or short chains. The type strain produces both the dl lactic acid enantiomers (dl 90:10) from glucose. W. ghanensis produces ammonium from arginine and slime from glucose. The mol% GC content of the DNA is 40.0, and the type strain (DSM 19935T = LMG 24286T) was isolated from Ghanaian cocoa heaps undergoing fermentation. The GenBank accession no. of the 16S rRNA gene is AM882997.

Description of other species:

Periweissella beninensis Bello, Rudra, and Gupta 2022, 16VP

Synonym Weissella beninensis Padonou, Schillinger, Nielsen, Franz, Hansen, Hounhouigan, Nago, and Jakobsen, 2010, 2196VP

ben.in.en'sis. N.L. fem. adj. beninensis, pertaining to Benin.

P. beninensis exhibits motility, and the cells were shown to possess with peritrichous flagella. Cells were determined to be short and rod-shaped or coccoid. Cells were observed to occur singly, in pairs or short chains. The bacterium is capable of growth at 15°C but not at 45°C. It hydrolyzes arginine and produces dl lactate from glucose. Most strains were observed to produce dextran from sucrose. Among weissellas and periweissellas, P. beninensis utilizes the widest range of carbohydrates tested (Fanelli et al., 2022). Indeed, the type strain of this species metabolizes α-d-lactose, d-melibiose, d-galactose, β-methyl-d-galactoside, pyruvic acid methyl ester, lactulose, sucrose, uridine-5'-monophosphate, and d-raffinose (Fanelli et al., 2022). The type strain was isolated from cassava fermentations in Ketou, Benin, and the mol% GC content is 37. The type strain is DSM 22752T (=LMG 25373T). The GenBank accession no. for the 16S rRNA gene sequence is EU439435.

Periweissella cryptocerci Bello, Rudra, and Gupta 2022, 16VP

Synonym Weissella cryptocerci Heo, Hamada, Cho, Weon, Kim, Hong, Kim, and Kwon 2019, 2805VP

cryp.to.cer'ci. N.L. gen. n. cryptocerci, of Cryptocercus, a genus of insect from which the species was isolated.

P. cryptocerci dos not exhibit motility, and cells appear to be rod-shaped. The bacterium grows at 4–35°C and can produce dl lactate from glucose. It does not hydrolyze arginine and does not produce slime from sucrose. The cell wall peptidoglycan is type A4α, characterized by an interpeptide bridge of Gly-D-Glu. The mol% GC content is 41.1, and the type strain, isolated from the gut of the insect Cryptocercus kyebangensis, was obtained in the mountainous area of Seoraksan, Yangyang-gun, Republic of Korea. The type strain was deposited as KACC 18423T = NBRC 113066T. Its GenBank accession number of the 16S rRNA gene is MK395366.

Periweissella fabalis Bello, Rudra, and Gupta 2022, 17VP

Synonym Weissella fabalis Snauwaert, Papalexandratou, De Vuyst, and Vandamme 2013, 1714VP

fa.ba'lis. L. fem. adj. fabalis of or belonging to beans.

P. fabalis did not show motility, and the cells were observed to be of coccoid morphology, occurring singly, in pairs or in short chains. The bacterium can grow at temperatures ranging from 15 to 37°C and in the presence of 5–6% NaCl but not in the presence of 7–8% NaCl. It produces ammonia from arginine and d-lactic acid from glucose. The DNA of the type strain has a mol% GC content of 37. The type strain, isolated from a Brazilian cocoa bean box fermentation carried out in Ilhéus, Bahia, Brazil, in 2007, is LMG 26217T = DSM 28407T. The 16S rRNA gene nucleotide sequence has the GenBank/EMBL/DDBJ accession number HE576795.

Periweissella fabaria Bello, Rudra, and Gupta 2022, 17VP

Synonym Weissella fabaria De Bruyne, Camu, De Vuyst, and Vandamme 2010, 2002VP

fa.ba'ri.a. L. fem. adj. fabaria of or belonging to beans.

P. fabaria was described to be non-motile, and the cells were determined to have a coccoid morphology, occurring singly, in pairs or short chains. Bacteria of this species produce both the d and l lactic acid enantiomers in a ratio 9:1. They grow at 15–37°C and produce ammonia from arginine and slime from glucose. L-Lys–L-Ala–L-Ser is the amino acid present in the peptidoglycan structure. The DNA of the type strain has a mol% GC content of 38.2 mol%. The type strain, isolated from a Ghanaian cocoa fermentation in 2004, is LMG 24289T = DSM 21416T. The 16S rRNA gene of the type strain has the GenBank/EMBL/DDBJ accession number FM179678.

Detection and typing of Weissella

From 2015 (Fusco et al., 2015) up to date, no advancements have been achieved in the isolation of weissellas: modified CHALMERS (Pepe et al., 2001) and de Man, Rogosa, and Sharpe (MRS) (DeMan et al., 1960) broth enrichment combined with plating on MRS agar added with 2,3,5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC) (Zamudio-Maya et al., 2008), remain the only media that, among other LAB, allow the differentiation and isolation of weissellas, while Leuconostoc selective medium (LUSM) (Benkerroum et al., 1993), sourdough bacteria (SDB) medium (Kline and Sugihara, 1971), and MRS, allow the isolation of weissellas apart from presumptive lactobacilli and Leuconostoc. As for the identification of weissellas, biochemical methods such as those based on the comparison of total soluble cell protein patterns (Dicks, 1995; Tsakalidou et al., 1997) and profiles of cellular fatty acids (Samelis et al., 1998), as well as commercial identification kits such as the Phoenix Automated Microbiology System (Becton Dickinson Diagnostic Systems, Sparks, MD), theVitek2 system (Bio Merieux, Marcy l'Etoile, France), the API50 CHL kit (BioMérieux, Lyon, France) (Lee K. W. et al., 2012), and the RapID™ STR System (Thermo Scientific, Hudson, NH, USA), do not allow an accurate and reliable identification (Fusco et al., 2015; Sturino, 2018). The culture-based identification of weissellas has been improved by matrix-assisted laser desorption–ionization time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) (Albesharat et al., 2011; Fairfax et al., 2014; Lee M. R. et al., 2015; Kim et al., 2017, 2021a,b; Nacef et al., 2017; Wang et al., 2020b; Joglekar et al., 2023).

As for the DNA-based taxonomical methods, to overcome the low reliability of 16S rRNA gene sequencing for discriminating highly phylogenetically related weissellas (Kulwichit et al., 2007; Fairfax et al., 2014; Medford et al., 2014; Joglekar et al., 2023), several methods have been developed such as ribotyping (Björkroth et al., 2002), amplified ribosomal DNA restriction analysis (ARDRA) (Jang et al., 2021), denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) of PCR amplified fragments of the 16S rRNA gene (Walter et al., 2001), and sequence typing of pheS, gyrB, and dnaA genes, with the pheS gene providing the better taxonomic resolution (Joglekar et al., 2023). A genus-specific PCR assay, targeting the 16Sr RNA gene, was developed by Schillinger et al. (2008) for the differentiation of Weissella and Leuconostoc. Fusco et al. (2011) developed a species-specific PCR for Weissella confusa from an AFLP (amplified fragment length polymorphism)-derived marker, whereas a conventional PCR and a real-time PCR were developed by Snyder et al. (2015) for the identification and quantification of W. ceti NC36. A real-time PCR assay was developed by Gómez-Rojo et al. (2015) to quantitatively detect W. viridescens in blood sausages, whereas following a pan-genome analysis, Kim et al. (2022b) designed species-specific pairs of primers for the real-time PCR detection of 11 Weissella species. Finally, Ma et al. (2022) developed an aptasensor based on fluorescence polarization for the detection of W. viridescens.

Culture-independent approaches including PCR-DGGE and next-generation sequencing approaches such as metagenetics and metagenomics have allowed the detection of weissellas in various ecological niches (Table 2). Whole-genome sequencing is another approach that is being widely used to identify and characterize weissellas (Benomar et al., 2011; Kim et al., 2011; Amari et al., 2012; Lee J. H. et al., 2012; Figueiredo et al., 2014a,b, 2015; Tanizawa et al., 2014; Malik et al., 2016; Heng et al., 2017; Ku et al., 2017; Li et al., 2017; Du et al., 2018; Garcia-Cancino et al., 2019; Kwak et al., 2019; Panthee et al., 2019; Lin et al., 2020; Månberger et al., 2020; Baugh et al., 2021; Contente et al., 2021; Jang et al., 2021; Patrone et al., 2021; Yuan et al., 2021; Apostolakos et al., 2022; Fanelli et al., 2022; Fukuda and Nolasco-Hipolito, 2022; Surachat et al., 2022; Teixeira et al., 2022).

Table 2

SpeciesOriginCountryDetection methodReferences
Weissella spp. and W. paramesenteroidesMexican pozol (fermented maize dough)MexicoPCR-DGGE (denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis)Ampe et al., 1999
W. confusakimchiKoreaPCR-DGGELee et al., 2005
W. confusa and W. cibariabreast milk of healthy womenSpainPCR-DGGEMartín et al., 2007
W. confusa and W. viridescensDoenjang (fermented soy bean paste)KoreaPCR-DGGEKim et al., 2009
Weissella spp., W. paramesenteroidesJeotgal (fermented sea food)Koreabarcoded pyrosequencing and PCR– DGGERoh et al., 2010
W. hellenica and W. paramesenteroidesRaw milk cheesesDenmarkBarcoded pyrosequencing of DNA and cDNAMasoud et al., 2012
W. cibaria, W. soli, and W. koreensisDongchimi (water kimchi)KoreaPyrosequencing of 16S rRNA genesJeong et al., 2013
W. hellenica and W. paramesenteroidesCroatian raw ewe's milk cheesesCroatiaPyrosequencing of 16S rRNA genesFuka et al., 2013
Weissella spp., W. cibaria, and W. paramesenteroidesNukadoko (naturally fermented rice bran mash used for pickling vegetablesJapanPyrosequencing of tagged 16S rRNA gene ampliconsOno et al., 2014
Weissella spp., W. soli, and W. beninensisMalt (produced by industrial malting)BelgiumCulture-independent T-RFLP (terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism) and pyrosequencingJusté et al., 2014
Weissella spp.oral microbiota of sailors during a long sea voyageChinaPyrosequencing of 16S rRNA genes MetagenomicsZheng et al., 2015
W. cibaria, W. confusa, and W. viridescensShanxi aged vinegarChinaCulture -independent PCR-DGGENie et al., 2015
Weissella spp., W. cibaria, W. confusa, W. hellenica, and W. viridescensChichi (maize-based fermented beverage)SpainPyrosequencing of 16S rRNA genesElizaquível et al., 2015
Weissella spp.Traditional Chinese Yellow Rice WineChinaMetagenomicsFang et al., 2015
Weissella spp.KimchiKoreaMetagenomicsJung et al., 2011
Weissella spp. W. confusa, and W. cibariaMul kimchi (water radish kimchi)KoreaPyrosequencing of 16S rRNA genesKim et al., 2012
Weissella spp.Cotija (Mexican ripened cheese)MexicoMetagenomicsEscobar-Zepeda et al., 2016
Weissella spp. W. confusa, and W. cibariaKorean commercial kimchiKoreaPyrosequencing of 16S rRNA genesKim et al., 2016
Weissella spp.Yucha (traditional Chinese fermented food)ChinaPyrosequencing of 16S rRNA genesZhang et al., 2016
Weissella spp.KimchiChinaPyrosequencing of 16S rRNA genesLee M. et al., 2017
Weissella spp.Soy sauceChinaPyrosequencing of 16S rRNA genesWang H. et al., 2017
Weissella spp.Commercially prepared, domestic and imported, pasteurized (n = 8) and unpasteurized (n = 7) Gouda cheeseUSAPyrosequencing of 16S rRNA genesSalazar et al., 2018
Weissella spp.Zhacai paocai (fermented vegetable)ChinaPyrosequencing of 16S rRNA genesLiang et al., 2018
Weissella spp.Vaginas of pregnant womenKoreaPyrosequencing of 16S rRNA genesYou et al., 2019
Weissella spp.Dhanaan (Ethiopian fermented camel milk)EthiopiaPyrosequencing of 16S rRNA genesBerhe et al., 2019
Weissella spp. and W. viridescenshigh-moisture Mozzarella cheesesItalyPyrosequencing of 16S rRNA genesMarino et al., 2019
Weissella spp.JIUYAO (fermentation starter traditionally used in Shaoxing-jiu)ChinaBarcoded pyrosequencingChen et al., 2023
Weissella spp.Stool samples from children with Immunoglobulin A vasculitis and from healthy childrenChinaMetagenomicsCao et al., 2021
W. ghanensis- groupFermented cocoa beansColombiaPyrosequencing of 16S rRNA genesFernández-Niño et al., 2021
Weissella spp.Fermented potherb mustard (Brassica juncea var. multiceps),ChinaMetagenomicsLiu et al., 2021
Weissella spp.Medium temperature daqu starterChinaMetagenomicsYang et al., 2021
Weissella spp.Chinese Xiaoqu jiu (liquor)ChinaMetagenomicsZhao C. et al., 2021
Weissella spp.Malaysian naturally fermented silageMalaysiaPyrosequencing of 16S rRNA genesHisham et al., 2022
Weissella spp.fresh manure from cows, chickens, horses, and pigsIndiaPyrosequencing of 16S rRNA genesMutungwazi et al., 2022
Weissella spp., W. soliSuancai (Chinese traditional fermented food)ChinaMetagenomicsSong et al., 2022
Weissella spp. and W. confusaPickled vegetablesSaudi ArabiaMetagenomicsYasir et al., 2022
Weissella spp.Fermented mustardChinaMetagenomicsYu et al., 2022
Weissella spp., W. paramesenteroides, and W. cibariaDaqu (fermenting agent in Chinese huangjiu and baijiu production)ChinaMetagenomicsZhang et al., 2022
Weissella spp.Daqu (fermenting agent in Chinese huangjiu and baijiu production)ChinaPyrosequencing of 16S rRNA genesCheng et al., 2023
Weissella spp.beef, chicken, and pork meatMalaysiaPyrosequencing of 16S rRNA genesEmamjomeh et al., 2023
W. jogaejeotgaliHomemade produced herby cheeseTurkeyPyrosequencing of 16S rRNA genesRüstemoglu et al., 2023
Weissella spp.Non-gxiangxing daquChinaPyrosequencing of 16S rRNA genesXia et al., 2023

Detection of weissellas by culture-independent approaches in various ecological niches.

An update on the ecology of Weissella and Periweissella

Weissella and Periweissella species may play a role in the fermentation process of products both intended for human and animal consumption. They have been described as components of the fermentative microbiota of crop silages intended as animal feed (Otoni et al., 2018; Dong et al., 2020; Wang et al., 2020a; Wen Fang Wu Wu et al., 2021), where Weissella spp. may be generally involved in early stages of fermentation (0–7 days) or even remain relatively stable during the subsequent stages of the process (Wang et al., 2020a). Apart from such products that are not intended for human nutrition, Fusco et al. (2015) reported that Weissella and Periweissella species are also found in various fermented foods including wheat sourdough, cheeses, fermented meat-, milk-, fish-, and plant-based products (Fusco et al., 2015). However, in the last decade, a growing number of studies are aiming to characterize the microbiota of various fermented foods, helping to increase the awareness that Weissella and Periweissella may play a role in a wide variety of traditional and novel fermented foods (Table 3).

Table 3

SourceSampleSpeciesCountryReferences
Fermented foods
Plant-based fermented foodsKimchi (salted fermented cabbage-based product)W. cibaria, W. confusa, W. hellenica, W. koreensis, W. paramesenteroide, W. soli, and P. fabariaKoreaLee et al., 2015a; Kim et al., 2017; Yoon et al., 2023
Pozol (beverage obtained from the non-alcoholic fermentation of nixtamalized (lime-cooked) maize)W. cibaria, W. confusa, W. paramesenteroides, and Weissella spp.MexicoLópez-Hernández et al., 2018; Hernández-Oaxaca et al., 2021
Soidon (spontaneously fermented bamboo shoots)W. cibaria, W. oryzae, and P. ghanensisIndiaRomi et al., 2015
Spontaneously fermented sorghum sourdoughW. cibaria, W. confusa, and W. paramesenteroidesItalyFalasconi et al., 2020
Spontaneously fermented ginger picklesW. cibaria, W. confusa, and P. fabariaChinaXiang et al., 2022
Spontaneously fermented maize bransW. cibaria and W. confusaItalyDecimo et al., 2017
Spontaneously fermented faba bean (Vicia faba major and V. faba minor) sourdoughsW. cibaria and W. koreensisItalyCoda et al., 2017
Fermented pineapple peel-derived beverageW. paramesenteroides and P. ghanensisIndonesiaTallei et al., 2022
Spontaneously fermented rye doughW. cibariaSpainLlamas-Arriba et al., 2021; Hernández-Alcántara et al., 2022
Spontaneously fermented chia (Salvia hispanica L.) sourdoughW. cibariaArgentinaDentice Maidana et al., 2020
Spontaneously fermented chickpea (Cicer arietinum) sourdoughW. confusaItalyGalli et al., 2020b
Homemade fermented soybean productW. confusaIndonesiaHeng et al., 2017
Table olivesW. paramesenteroidesMoroccoEl Issaoui et al., 2021
Nukadoko (fermented rice bran)W. soliJapanFukuda and Nolasco-Hipolito, 2022
Kocho (fermented Enset plant (Ensete ventricosum (Welw.) Chees man, Musaceae)P. beninensisEthiopiaAndeta et al., 2018
Spontaneously fermented cocoa beansP. fabalisNicaraguaPapalexandratou et al., 2019
Fermented pickled cowpea (Vigna unguiculata [Linn.] Walp)Weissella spp.ChinaGuo et al., 2021
Meat-based fermented foodsPirot “ironed” sausage (fermented meat with spices)W. cibaria, W. koreensis, and P. fabalisSerbiaBogdanović et al., 2023
Calabresa (fermented meat product)W. viridescensBrazilCastilho et al., 2019
Seafood-based fermented foodsGajami-sikhae (salted fermented fish mixed with vegetables and millet)W. cibaria, W. hellenica, W. kandleri, W. koreensis, and W. viridescensKoreaKim et al., 2022a
Jeotgal (salted fermented seafood)W. halotolerans and W. thailandensisKoreaKim et al., 2017
Kung-som (fermented shrimp)W. thailandensisThailandSaelao et al., 2016
Milk-based fermented foodsSpontaneously fermented thermized cow milkW. confusaMalaysiaGoh and Philip, 2015
Lait caillé (spontaneously fermented raw cow milk product)W. paramesenteroidesBurkina FasoBayili et al., 2019
Insect-based fermented foodsSpontaneously fermented cricket powderW. confusaItalyGalli et al., 2020a
Non-fermented foods
Dry-cured or pickled foodsEl-Guedid (dry-cured meat product)W. cibaria, W. confusa, W. hellenica, W. paramesenteroides, W. thailandensis, and W. viridescensAlgeriaBader et al., 2021
Pastirma (dry-cured meat product)W. cibaria, W. confusa, W. halotolerans, and W. hellenicaTurkeyÖz et al., 2017
pickled white cabbageW. cibaria, W. confusa, and W. soliReunion Island (Africa)Fessard and Remize, 2019
Fermented products not intended for human consumption
SilagesSilages of alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.), whole-plant corn (Zea mays L.), and their mixtureW. cibaria, W. confusa, W. koreensis, and Weissella spp.ChinaWang et al., 2020a
Guinea grass (Panicum maximum Jacq. cultivar Mombasa) silagesW. confusa, W. oryzae, and W. paramesenteroidesBrazilOtoni et al., 2018
Pineapple peel silageP. ghanensisCosta RicaWen Fang Wu Wu et al., 2021
Ensiled sweet sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) bagasseWeissella spp.ChinaDong et al., 2020
Raw fruits and vegetables
Raw fruitsTomato (W. cibaria), papaya (W. confusa, W. paramesenteroides)W. cibaria, W. confusa, and W. paramesenteroidesReunion Island (Africa)Fessard and Remize, 2019
Custard apple (W. cibaria), Guava (W. minor), Khaki (P. fabalis)W. cibaria, W. minor, and P. fabalisArgentinaRuiz Rodríguez et al., 2019
Banana (Musa spp.) fruitsW. cibaria and W. paramesenteroidesTaiwanChen et al., 2017
Native fruit of Ecuadorian AmazonW. confusaEcuadorGarzón et al., 2017
Various fresh fruits (sapota, cherry, banana, orange, plum)W. paramesenteroidesNot ReportedPabari et al., 2020
Raw vegetablesGarlic (Allium sativum), ginger (Zingiber officinale), Korean leek (Allium tuberosum)W. cibariaKoreaLee et al., 2015a
Humans
IntestineFeces from healthy womenW. confusaChinaWang et al., 2020b
Feces of young healthy childW. confusaSouth KoreaJin et al., 2019
Stool samples of adultsWeissella spp.ChinaZhang et al., 2022a
Oral cavitySaliva of an infantW. cibariaSouth KoreaKang et al., 2017
Saliva of 3–5 years old children with or without cariesWeissella spp.ChinaWu et al., 2023
Oral samples collected immediately after birth of full-term vaginally delivered newbornsWeissella spp.Not ReportedSingh et al., 2020
VaginaVaginal swabs from pregnant womenWeissella spp.KoreaYou et al., 2019
MilkMilk from healthy nursing mothers (full-term pregnancy; 10 days−10 months postpartum)W. confusaBrazilReis et al., 2016
Milk from mother (cesarean delivery; lactating period between 21-48 weeks) suffering from asthma and overweightWeissella spp.SpainMarin-Gómez et al., 2020
Animals
Intestine of mammalsFeces of Nili-Ravi Buffalo (Bubalus bubalis)W. cibaria, W. confusa, W. bombi, and W. soliPakistanKhalil et al., 2022
Fecal samples of European badgers (Meles meles)W. cibaria and W. paramesenteroidesUnited KingdomStedman et al., 2018
Feces of giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca)W. cibaria and Weissella spp.ChinaZhao S. et al., 2021
Feces of camelsW. confusa and W. halotoleransTunisiaFhoula et al., 2018
Feces of giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca)W. cibariaChinaDu et al., 2018
Droppings of captive Saki monkeyW. cibariaFranceEveno et al., 2021
Fecal samples of Gannan yaksW. cibariaChinaZhang et al., 2022b
Fecal samples of cowsW. cibariaKuwaitPatrone et al., 2021
Intestine of fishFreshwater fish (Cirrhinus mrigala) intestineW. cibariaIndiaGovindaraj et al., 2021
Gut of rainbow trouts (Oncorhynchus mykiss Walbaum)W. oryzaeIranMortezaei et al., 2020
Intestinal tracts of tiger pufferfish (Takifugu rubripes)Weissella spp.ChinaGao et al., 2022
Digesta from the middle intestine of grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella)Weissella spp.ChinaYang G. et al., 2022
Intestine of birdsBroiler chicken fecesW. cibariaNot reportedGarcía-Hernández et al., 2016
Intestine of insects and slime of molluscsGut of ants (Cataglyphis)W. halotoleransTunisiaFhoula et al., 2018
Intestinal content of Locusta migratoria manilensis (Meyen)Weissella spp.ChinaWang W. et al., 2022
Slime of garden snail (Helix aspersa Müller)W. viridescensNot reportedGarcia-Cancino et al., 2019
RumenRumen liquid of Holstein lactating cowsWeissella spp.United KingdomStergiadis et al., 2021
VaginaVaginal swabs from postpartum dairy cowsW. confusa and W. koreensisChinaZhao et al., 2015; Wang et al., 2016
MilkBuffalo milkW. confusa, W. hellenica, and W. paramesenteroidesBrazilTulini et al., 2016
Raw goat milkW. cibaria and W. confusaNigeriaAkinyemi et al., 2022
Camel raw milkW. cibaria and W. confusaMoroccoMercha et al., 2020
Dromedary raw milkW. cibariaIranDavati et al., 2015
Camel fresh milkW. confusaMongoliaZhao et al., 2019
Raw cow milkW. paramesenteroidesMaltese Islands (Europe)Garroni et al., 2020

Various isolation sources of Weissella and Periweissella species reported from 2015 up to date.

The increasingly popular and worldwide consumed kimchi, a salted fermented cabbage-based Korean food (Lee et al., 2022), is a well-known source of W. cibaria, W. confusa, W. koreensis, W. hellenica, W. paramesenteroides, W. soli, and P. fabaria (Lee et al., 2015a; Kim et al., 2017; Yoon et al., 2023, Table 3). Moreover, Weissella and Periweissella spp. are also being reported as part of the inhabiting microbiota also in other lesser-known traditional fermented products (Table 3). For instance, W. paramesenteroides was detected during the production of lait caillé, a spontaneously fermented traditional raw milk product made in Burkina Faso (Bayili et al., 2019). In particular, Bayili et al. (2019) found that W. paramesenteroides was more abundant during the early stages of fermentations (0–7 h), while it could no longer be recovered later, until the end of fermentation (59 h) (Bayili et al., 2019). The presence of Weissella is also reported in novel fermented products that are being developed to meet the growing human dietary needs. Galli et al. (2020a) recently detected W. confusa (along with other LAB belonging to Latilactobacillus, Lactiplantibacillus, Lactococcus, and Enterococcus genera) during the spontaneous fermentation of a cricket powder, which was propagated through a backslopping procedure. Coda et al. (2017) reported the presence of Weissella during the spontaneous backslop-propagated fermentation of two faba bean (Vicia faba minor and Vicia faba major) flours that could be used as substitutes of animal-derived protein sources. It was found that, among LAB, W. koreensis showed one of the highest incidences of occurrence in the tested faba bean sourdoughs, although also the presence of W. cibaria was reported during the fermentation of these sourdough samples (Coda et al., 2017). Furthermore, Decimo et al. (2017) found W. cibaria and/or W. confusa during the initial stages of spontaneous fermentation of two types of commercial native maize brans, which could potentially be exploited as functional food in human nutrition. Apart from legume- and cereal-derived fermented products, Weissella species may also be found during the fermentation of oilseed- and other naturally gluten-free cereal-derived products, representing alternative foods for people with celiac disease (Falasconi et al., 2020). In particular, W. cibaria was detected during the spontaneous fermentation of chia (Salvia hispanica L.) sourdough, being found as one of the dominant species at the final stages (8–10 days) of a backslopping-propagated fermentation (Dentice Maidana et al., 2020), while W. paramesenteroides, W. confusa, and W. cibaria were detected at the early stages (0–1 days) of the spontaneous fermentation of a sorghum sourdough, similarly obtained using a backslopping procedure (Falasconi et al., 2020).

Therefore, as other LAB, Weissella and Periweissella species often participate during the fermentation process of various products owing to their enzymatic capabilities that are particularly adapted toward carbohydrate metabolism, as was recently reported (Hernández-Oaxaca et al., 2021; Fanelli et al., 2022). Nevertheless, the dynamics and microbial successions during the fermentation process are likely to be influenced by (i) the initial microbial composition of the raw materials, (ii) the physico-chemical composition of the products to be fermented, (iii) the fermentation conditions (e.g., temperature and oxygen availability) and procedures applied, and (iv) the metabolic interactions with other microorganisms constituting the microbiota. Additionally, Weissella species have been also detected in some pickle- and dry-cured products (Table 3), necessitating more targeted studies to better understand and describe the role of Weissella and Periweissella within the fermentative and curing processes that to date remains not yet fully clarified.

Weissella and Periweissella spp. can also be associated with raw foods (Table 3), including animal and human milk.

In particular, apart from human-derived milk (Oikonomou et al., 2020; Mantziari and Rautava, 2021), and beyond the detection of Weissella spp. in milk of commonly raised dairy animals such as cows, ewes, and goats, as well as milk of companion animals, such as dogs (Fusco et al., 2015), Weissella is being also reported in milk of less common domesticated animals. In particular, although enterococci were the most frequently isolated LAB, W. cibaria was found in the raw milk from dromedary in Iran (Davati et al., 2015), while W. confusa, either alone or together with W. cibaria, was isolated from raw camel milk in Mongolia and Morocco (Zhao et al., 2019; Mercha et al., 2020). Although, to the best of our knowledge, the ecology and the relevant sources of Weissella species in milk have not been clearly elucidated, various mechanisms are hypothesized to shape the milk microbiota both in humans and animals. Apart from the mere contamination of milk immediately after excretion, due to the presence of microorganisms that inhabit the skin or originate from fecal or environment contamination, three other mechanisms may represent possible sources of the milk microbiota, as was suggested for milk from both humans and cows (Oikonomou et al., 2020; Mantziari and Rautava, 2021). These include the (i) enteromammary pathway through which dendritic cells or macrophages transfer bacteria from the maternal gut to the mammary gland and then release the bacteria in the milk, (ii) the retrograde backflow of bacteria from the skin, the environment, or the offspring oral cavity during suckling or milking, and (iii) the presence of a resident microbiota in the mammary tissue (Oikonomou et al., 2020; Mantziari and Rautava, 2021). Weissella species, that are known to occur in different areas of the human and animal body including rumen and vagina (Table 3), are also found in the oral cavity of young children, as well as in human and animal intestine (detected mainly by fecal sampling) (Table 3); therefore, these may represent possible starting sites for Weissella to reach the human and animal milk, needing further investigations.

Notably, Weissella spp. can inhabit the intestinal tract of both vertebrates and invertebrates, the latter including insects and molluscs (Table 3), where they may be associated with the healthy status of the gut. In this regard, a recent study conducted on the feces of giant pandas found in healthy sub-adult animals a higher abundance of Weissella spp., including W. cibaria, when compared to sub-adult animals suffering from anorexia (Zhao S. et al., 2021). Interestingly, a symbiotic relationship among Weissella and Leuconostoc, Bacillus, and Streptococcus genera appeared to occur in the gut of the analyzed subjects, and, conversely, a decrease in Weissella and Streptococcus and increase in Clostridium could be the cause of the reported anorexia symptoms (Zhao S. et al., 2021).

Weissella and Periweissella may thus inhabit various ecological niches, with W. cibaria, W. confusa, and W. paramesenteroides being frequently reported in different sources (Table 3). Less knowledge is available for other species, especially those lastly described (W. coleopterorum, P. cryptocerci, W. muntiaci, W. fangxianensis, and W. sagaensis) for which, apart from the studies that recently reported their primary source of isolation (Table 1), no further knowledge is substantially available. This, therefore, deserves future investigations to clearly identify their relevant niches and better understand the ecological role also of the novel Weissella and Periweissella species.

An update of the technological potential of Weissella and Periweissella

Due to a long history of safety and the optimal pro-technological characteristics, LAB can be considered as the most important microbial group acting as starters in traditional and novel fermented foods and many of their functions have long been investigated and understood. Among these, Weissella spp. strains own numerous technological and functional properties and frequently play a significant part in food preservation and health benefits; thus, they have been evaluated as innovative starter cultures with an industrially significant interest (Fessard and Remize, 2017). However, their use as starters for food and beverage fermentation such as their inclusion in commercial products is still limited due to the lack of safety evaluation by two major food safety authorities, namely, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), which still do not consider any strain belonging to this genus as GRAS or QPS, respectively. A paucity of scientific data evaluating the safety aspects, antibiotic resistance pattern, potential biogenic amine synthesis, and infection risk partly explains such neglecting (Fessard and Remize, 2017; Ahmed et al., 2022). In the last years, weissellas characterization including technological and functionality assessments was widely performed to demonstrate also the health effects of single strains in accordance to the definition of probiotics by the International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotic (ISAPP). Therefore, the weissellas isolates from different fermented products have been characterized as potential starters to be used in food processing (Fusco et al., 2015), increasing their possible applications (Figure 1).

Figure 1

Selected strains for food fermentation

The suitability of W. cibaria and W. confusa to be used as starters for bread making was analyzed following an integrated approach including phenotypic, genotypic, and metabolomic characteristics. W. cibaria-com2 was identified (Lopez et al., 2022) as a strain able to perform an intense proteolysis in wheat flour doughs leading to release huge amounts of numerous amino acids and peptides, some of which belong to the branched-chain amino acid-derived compounds (BCAA). Thus, the differential metabolite profile of that strain was partially explained by a genome investigation for putative differences in peptidases, proteases, and amino acid/peptide transporters (Lopez et al., 2022). In particular, a higher presence of amino acid permeases, peptidases (C40 family), and oligopeptide ABC transporters was found in this strain as compared to other Weissella spp. strains (Lopez et al., 2022). Proteolysis is indeed considered as a key process in food fermentation leading toward a higher impact on the technological, nutritional, organoleptic, and functional features of the fermented foods.

W. confusa SD8 was used for making a sorghum sourdough in the study of Olojede et al. (2022) and was found to confer an optimal specific volume to the bread and moreover also contributed to tannin degradation (Olojede et al., 2022). Tannins are very abundant in sorghum flour (such as in other minor cereals, pseudocereals, and legumes) and considered as antinutritional factor since they are able to bind proteins making them refractory to digestion and are responsible for the bitter taste of different plant-based ingredients.

A W. koreensis strain (DB1) isolated from kimchi producing high levels of ornithine was proposed as a functional starter culture for rice bran fermentation (Yeong et al., 2020). Ornithine is produced in microbes from arginine throughout the intracellular arginine deiminase pathway (Yeong et al., 2020). Different Weissella strains were also proposed as starters for kimchi production due to their technological characteristics, even though these were also found to exhibit a weak hemolytic activity (Jeong and Lee, 2015). W. cibaria M3 was used (as mixed starter, in association with Lactococcus lactis) to produce a typical Chinese fermented fish product (Chouguiyu), showing optimal organoleptic characteristics (Bao et al., 2018). A folate-producing strain of W. cibaria (PL17-3) was also selected for the production of fermented fish (Deatraksa et al., 2018). Sixteen Weissella isolates from artisanal Brazilian cheeses were identified as potential starter candidates for the dairy industry owed to their high acidification ability, diacetyl production, and proteolytic activity (Teixeira et al., 2021). A selected W. cibaria strain was demonstrated to improve the organoleptic profile of Sichuan pickle when used in association with Lactiplantibacillus plantarum (Xiang et al., 2020).

W. cibaria 30 and W. cibaria 64, isolated from tropical fruits, were included in a list of starters for fruits and vegetables fermentation, whereas W. soli 58 showed the characteristics of a potential preservative culture for fruits and vegetables (Fessard and Remize, 2019). W. cibaria FB069 was tested as a starter to produce functional fermented soymilk. The addition of xylooligosaccharides before the fermentation process led to considerable increase of the acidification rate, viscosity, and W. cibaria FB069 growth. Moreover, the synbiotic fermented product obtained was characterized by increased levels of dextran, folate, GABA, genistein, and daidzein, and it was able to decrease the proliferation of Caco-2 and HCT116 cell lines (Le et al., 2020).

A spontaneous mutant strain, W. cibaria BAL3C-5 B2, was selected among different parental and mutant strains of W. cibaria to produce a content riboflavin bread, characterized by concentrations over 0.1 mg of riboflavin in 100 g of bread (Hernández-Alcántara et al., 2022). Moreover, the use of Weissella strains was also demonstrated in the production of baker's yeast-free bread (Lopez et al., 2022).

The importance of exopolysaccharides (EPSs)

LAB able to produce EPS play a pivotal role in industry for the development of functional food and are also used as coadjutants or starter cultures for the development of yogurt and other traditional fermented foods (Zhu et al., 2018). In these products, the EPS production by LAB starter cultures may occur in situ. As a consequence, since LAB EPS improve the texture and rheology of fermented foods by acting as natural biothickeners, the use of food additives, such as pectin and starch, may be avoided (Zhu et al., 2018). Furthermore, LAB EPS may act as probiotic and prebiotic due to their immunoregulatory, antitumoral, and antioxidant activities, as well as cholesterol-lowering ability, and prebiotic effects (Zhu et al., 2018) (for the probiotic and prebiotic role of the weissellas' EPS, see the subheader “Exopolysaccharides produced by weissellas” in the paragraph on the probiotic potential below). Among LAB, weissellas can generate high content of EPS without excessive amount of acetate which represents undesired compound in some products (e.g., beverages) also in the presence of added sugar usually used to maximize the EPS production. Indeed, the addition of sucrose during weissellas fermentation leads to dextran production and the use of fructose as a carbon source and not as electron acceptor, thus generating minimal quantities of acetate instead of mannitol (Rolim et al., 2019).

Weissella confusa A16, a strain characterized by a high level synthesis of dextran, was efficiently used for the EPS enrichment of a brewer's spent grain added with 4% of sucrose, aimed at improving its technological properties and contributing to its recycle as food ingredient (Koirala et al., 2021). As natural structure-forming agent, dextran has already been used as a food additive. Its supplementation to food formulations efficiently improved the technological properties of different raw materials such as fiber- and protein-rich matrices (such as cereal by-products), allowing their use as ingredients in food production chains (Koirala et al., 2021). Viscosity increase in fermented brewers' spent grain supplemented with sucrose occurred first after 10 h of fermentation and increased until 24 h concomitantly with dextran accumulation. The dextran content after 24 h was ~1% on the total weight of the brewers' spent grain (Koirala et al., 2021). A dextransucrase gene was identified in W. confusa A16 that showed a typical inducible characteristic, with an intense upregulation occurring at 10 h. EPS produced by a strain isolated from distiller grains of Chinese Baijiu, namely, Weissella cibaria NC516.11, was proven to be able to promote the cross-linking of starch molecules, thus increasing the water-holding capacity (Li et al., 2022). Dynamic rheology indicated that the aqueous solutions of EPS are pseudoplastic fluids, and their addition to gluten-free ingredients increases the viscoelastic features of the dough (Li et al., 2022). The use of EPS producing strain in bread making was extensively exploited in both gluten-free and gluten-containing bakery products. Weissella cibaria P9 was used to produce gluten-free bread also including sucrose-containing flour instead of sugar as a precursor (Montemurro et al., 2021, 2023). Moreover, the in situ production of EPS by weissellas for improving the steamed bread quality, usually associated with increase of the specific volume, enhance of the texture, and decrease of the staling rate, was recently confirmed (Xu et al., 2020; Sha et al., 2023).

A wholemeal quinoa beverage was also fermented with W. cibaria MG1 with the aim to produce a yogurt-like product that showed high water-holding capacity, viscosity, and EPS concentration as a consequence of the fermentation (Zannini et al., 2018). It was hypothesized that the high EPS (dextran) concentration was responsible for the optimal structural properties of the fermented matrix (Zannini et al., 2018).

Other plant-derived substrates were also efficiently in situ enriched with EPS using selected strains of Weissella spp., such as faba bean flour (Xu et al., 2017; Rizzello et al., 2019), chickpea (Galli et al., 2020a), and rye (Kajala et al., 2016). A W. cibaria strain (SJ14) isolated from Sichuan paocai (a type of Chinese pickles), characterized by strong salt tolerance, acidification, and nitrite depletion capacities, was identified as a heteropolysaccharide producer. Moreover, a strong antioxidant activity of its EPS was demonstrated (Zhu et al., 2018).

The potential probiotic and exopolysaccharide-producing strain W. confusa VP30 was isolated from young children's feces, and its EPS was characterized and quantified. Moreover, the safety was assessed with the aim of applying the strain in food production (Jin et al., 2019). Lastly, a wild W. minor (W4451) strain was demonstrated to be able to significantly increase milk viscosity and was therefore proposed as starter for the dairy sector (Bancalari et al., 2020).

Antimicrobial activity and control of food-associated pathogens

For the antimicrobial activity of weissellas and periweissellas in detail, see the subheader “Antimicrobial activity of weissellas” in the paragraph on the probiotic potential below.

The bacteriocin weissellicin D was produced by the strain W. hellenica D1501 in fermented pork and showed antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria monocytogenes, and E. coli (Chen et al., 2014a). W. hellenica D1501 was therefore also tested as starter to produce a tofu with long shelf life (Chen et al., 2014b). W. cibaria D30 was used in cottage cheese after whey separation from the curd and not only demonstrated inhibitory activity against L. monocytogenes ATCC 15313 but also increased the antioxidant properties of the product (Kariyawasam et al., 2019).

One of a possible solution for overcoming the still not authorized use of weissellas in food production is the use of cell-free suspension (CFS), as reviewed by Aggarwal et al. (2022) and Ahmed et al. (2022). CFS is considered postbiotics according to the definition of ISAPP, describing them as a “preparation of inanimate microorganisms and/or their components that confer a health benefit on the host.” Weissella cibaria CMU, an oral care probiotic, was discovered to produce and release secreted proteins, organic acid, and hydrogen peroxide with antibacterial activity against periodontal pathogens (Lim et al., 2018). The CFS from W. viridescens WV20-15 was tested, excluding the effect of organic acids and hydrogen peroxide, to control Listeria monocytogenes 10403S. Inhibitory compounds of proteinaceous nature, probably bacteriocins, decreased the production of microbial biofilm and eradicated preformed biofilms on different materials. Moreover, a significant reduction of L. monocytogenes 10403S growth was found on chilled pork (Yang C. et al., 2022). The partially purified bacteriocin 7293 obtained from W. hellenica BCC 7293 CFS was effectively used to produce an antimicrobial biodegradable food packaging applied in PLA/SP film. In vitro assays demonstrated the inhibition of both Gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus and Listeria monocytogenes) and Gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli, Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Aeromonas hydrophila). Moreover, the innovative packaging was used to avoid the proliferation of the pathogenic microorganisms in a challenge test of inhibition of chilled pangasius filet (Woraprayote et al., 2018).

Reduction of chemical contaminants

Hamoud and Sifour (2021) demonstrated that the potentially probiotic strain Weissella confusa Lb. Con was able to survive in MRS broth at a concentration of 200 μg/ml of chlorpyrifos, being able also to degrade about 25% of this pesticide. Considering the wide use of this pesticide to control foliar insects in different vegetables, these results suggested the potential use of this strain in the decontamination of food matrices or in probiotic formulations, aiming at the in vivo reduction of pesticide toxicity. Liu et al. (2020) tested W. cibaria X31 and W. confusa L2 as low nitrite dry-fermented sausages starters. The final product was characterized by high growth rate of both inoculated microorganisms, high degree of redness, high proteolysis rate, and decreased residual nitrites and S. enterica growth. Fermented meat can contain not only nitrite but also high amounts of biogenic amines. The use of both Lactiplantibacillus plantarum His6 and Weissella viridescens F2 as starters for Roucha production led to the decrease of histamine and tyramine of ~50%, due to their amine oxidase activity and the conversion into aldehyde, hydrogen peroxide, and ammonia (Han J. et al., 2022).

Pathogenic potential of Weissella and Periweissella

In 2015, Fusco et al. (2015) reviewed all the cases of clinical infections with weissellas that occurred until that year. From 2015 to date, further cases have occurred, all involving W. confusa strains (Table 4). As for Weissella infections in animals from 2015 to date, only five cases have been reported, with W. ceti as the etiological agent of weissellosis in rainbow trouts (Castrejón-Nájera et al., 2018; Mitomi et al., 2018; Medina et al., 2020; Vásquez-Machado et al., 2020).

Table 4

Age and sexClinical InfectionCausative agentUnderlying conditionsSurvivalReferences
63, FBacteremiaW. confusaMultiple abdominal surgeries, central catheterYesVasquez et al., 2015
78, MMeningitisW. confusaAlzheimer's disease, diabetes mellitus type 2, coronary artery disease statusYesCheaito et al., 2020
25, MBacteremiaW. confusaCrohn's disease, intestinal failure, short bowel syndrome, history of frequent blood stream infectionsNoSpiegelhauer et al., 2020
57, FBacteremiaW. confusaUlcerative colitis and autoimmune hepatitis and primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) overlap requiring liver transplant.NoKelkar et al., 2021
63, MEndocarditisW. confusaType 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, and a congenital bicuspid aortic valveYesHurt et al., 2021
65, MEndocarditisW. confusaAlcohol associated cirrhosis, Child-Pugh Classification C, a MELD-sodium score of 18, and liver transplant evaluationNoWijarnpreecha and Fontana, 2022
11, MSepticemiaW. confusaAcute pancreatitis and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS)YesAzim et al., 2023
92, FInfective endocarditis of a bio-prosthetic valveW. confusa9 mm Edwards Magna pericardial bovine aortic valve (AV) prosthetic implantation (Edwards Lifesciences, Irvine, CA) and a 25 mm porcine St. Jude bio-prosthetic mitral valve (MV) replacement (St. Jude Medical, Inc., St Paul, MN) in 2014, heart failure with persevered ejection fracture (HFpEF), paroxysmal atrial fibrillation on apixaban, chronic kidney disease (CKD) stage 3B, hypothyroidism, and prior lumbar fusion presented in the fall of 2021 due a two-week history of generalized weakness, dyspnea at rest, and intermittent dark stoolsYesMassasati and Waseem, 2023

Weissella infections in humans from 2015 up to date.

No studies have been published so far about the pathogenic potential of Periweissella species.

Safety assessment of Weissella and Periweissella

Since 2015, when Fusco et al. (2015) provided an overview of studies published until that year on the probiotic potential of weissellas, many further articles on the same topic have been published up to date. As reported in Tables 5, 6, most of the studies focused on W. confusa and W. cibaria strains isolated from various ecological niches. For the majority of the potentially probiotic strains, a safety assessment consisting of investigations into the antibiotic susceptibility and the hemolytic activity was performed. However, Sturino (2018) carried out a literature-based safety assessment of W. confusa, concluding that many strains of this species can be safely used for poultry in direct-fed microbial products. Cupi and Elvig-Jørgensen (2019) assessed the toxicological safety of W. confusa by in vivo, in vitro, and ex vivo studies. In the tested conditions, no toxic effects were shown by W. confusa allowing to conclude that this species could be used as a safe direct-fed microbial product (Cupi and Elvig-Jørgensen, 2019). However, for their studies, they used “an off powder of freeze-dried bacteria composed of almost entirely W. confusa,” but no specification on the composition in strain/strains of this powder was made. By contrast, Bourdichon et al. (2021) used 46 strains of W. confusa (17 of clinical and 26 of food origin) to provide a safety assessment based on their hemolytic activity and antibiotic susceptibility, as well as on the search of antibiotic resistance genes, virulence determinants, and genes coding for deleterious metabolites (such as biogenic amines) within their genomes. Moreover, a literature search was conducted to find reports of infection caused by strains of W. confusa (Bourdichon et al., 2021). This study allowed Bourdichon et al. (2021) to consider W. confusa as “safe for use in the food chain, food culture for fermentation, or as probiotic strain candidate”.

Table 5

SpeciesStrainSourceNationProbiotic potentialSafety assessmentReferences
W. koreensisFKI21South Indian fermented koozhIndiaSurvival under simulated human gastro-intestinal tract (hGIt) conditions, antimicrobial spectrum, deconjugation of sodium glycocholate and sodium taurocholate, aggregation activity, exopolysaccharide (EPS) production, in vitro cholesterol reduction assay, scanning electron microscopy (SEM)Antibiotic resistance profileAnandharaj et al., 2015
W. cibariaCMUsaliva of healthy Korean childrenKoreaResistance again lysozyme, and hydrogen peroxide, acidogenic potential, inhibition of biofilm formation, coaggregation, antibacterial activity against dental caries bacteria, and inhibition of volatile sulfur compounds-Jang et al., 2016
W. cibariaNot specifiedNot specifiedKoreaAnti-inflammatory effect on macrophages of butanol extracts of Asparagus cochinchinensis fermented with W. cibaria-Lee H. A. et al., 2017
W. cibariaWD2Fermented cassava and waraNigeriaSurvival under hGIt conditions, tolerance to cadmium and lead, antioxidative activityHemolytic activityOjekunle et al., 2017
W. cibariaCIATEJ B1-48.1Tejuino (fermented beverage)MexicoSurvival under hGIt conditions, antimicrobial spectrum, in vitro adhesion capacity, short-chain fatty acids analysis-Silva et al., 2017
W. cibaria
W. viridescens
FB-069 FB-077Salted squidKoreaAntioxidative activity, antimicrobial spectrum, survival under hGIt conditions, in vitro adhesion assay, auto-aggregation and co-aggregation capacity. Salted squid fermentation was carried out using the two probiotic Weissella strains and antioxidant capacity of fermented squid samples was determined.In vitro hemolytic reaction, mucin degradation and biogenic amine production. Antibiotic resistance profileLe and Yang, 2018
W. confusaKR780676Idli butterIndiaSurvival under hGIt conditions, binding properties, cholesterol removal, heat resistance and β-galactosidase activity, biofilm formation, antioxidant activities, inhibition of pathogenic biofilm formationIn vitro hemolytic activity, antibiotic resistance and DNase and gelatinase activitySharma et al., 2018
W. cibariaStrains 13 and 16 Strains 28 and 29Dosa batter
Human infant feces
IndiaSurvival under hGIt conditions, in vitro adhesion assay, adhesion to hydrocarbons, antimicrobial activity, in vitro cholesterol reduction, attenuation of lipopolysaccharide-induced pro-inflammatory stress in murine macrophages(RAW 264.7) and in human intestinal epithelial cells (Caco-2)-Singh et al., 2018
W. cibariaFB069Fermented salted shrimpKoreaPrevention of proliferation in human colon cancer cells (Caco-2 and HCT116 cell lines) by symbiotic fermented soymilk with this strain and xylooligosaccharides-Le et al., 2020
W. cibariaD29 and D30KimchiKoreaSurvival under hGIt conditions, antimicrobial spectrum, in vitro adhesion capacity, antioxidant activity, exopolysaccharide productionIn vitro hemolytic activity, antibiotic resistanceYu et al., 2019
W. confusaWH2, Wh4, WH6, WH7Horse fecesChinaAcid tolerance, heat resistance, α-amylase inhibition test, antioxidant capacity, antimicrobial spectrumAntibiotic resistanceXia et al., 2019
W. confusaF213HumanIndonesiaEnhancement of intestinal epithelial barrier function in Caco-2 cell monolayers exposed to hydrogen peroxide to induce inflammatory bowel disease (exposed to both W. confusa F213 and Lactobacillus rhamnosus FBB81)-Fatmawati et al., 2020
W. paramesenteroidesFX1, FX2, FX5, FX9 and FX12FruitsIndiaViability in low pH and sodium taurocholate, salt aggregation and autoaggregation, biofilm formation, in vitro adhesion to mucinAntibiotic resistancePabari et al., 2020
W. confusaYM5Y, YM5S1 and YM5S2Healthy human fecesChinaSurvival under hGIt conditions, antimicrobial spectrumIn vitro hemolytic activity, antibiotic resistanceWang et al., 2020b
W. oryzaeNABRII48, NABRII60, NABRII62, NABRII63, NABRII47Rainbow troutSpainSurvival under hGIt conditions, antimicrobial spectrumIn vitro hemolytic activity, antibiotic resistance, PCR detection of virulence factorsMortezaei et al., 2020
W. confusa and W. cibariaW. confusa 12, 16, 19, 111, 116, 117. W. cibaria 118, 123, 126, 132Camel milkMoroccoSurvival under hGIt conditions, antimicrobial spectrum, cell surface hydrophobicity and autoaggregation, antioxidant activity, exopolysaccharide production. Technological characterization (acidifying capacity, proteolytic and lipolytic activities, diacetyl production, autolytic activity and heat resistance)Antibiotic resistance, DNase and hemolytic activityMercha et al., 2020
W. confusa and W. cibariaMD1 and MD2Fermented batterIndiaSurvival under hGIt conditions, antimicrobial spectrum, cell surface hydrophobicity and autoaggregation, cholesterol removal, antioxidant activity, biofilm analysis by atomic force microscopy.In vitro hemolytic activity, antibiotic resistanceLakra et al., 2020a
W. cibariaJW15kimchiKoreaImmune-modulating effects on murine macrophage cell line RAW 264.7-Park et al., 2019
W. confusaMDM8Wheat sourdoughIranEnhancement of γ-aminobutyric acid content in milk fermented with MDM8 alone or in co-culture with and Enterococcus faecium strainAntibiotic resistanceKhanlari et al., 2021
W. viridescensUCO-SMC3Adult snailsNot specifiedGlass adherence, adherence assay on HaCat cell line, resistance to gastric conditions, hydrogen peroxide production, lactic acid and bacteriocin detection, microbicidal activity on Cutibacterium acnes and Staphylococcus aureus, antagonistic activity on the adhesion of C. acnes and S. aureus in HaCat cellsAntibiotic susceptibility, hemolysis and gelatinase activities, cytotoxicity on HaCat cellsEspinoza-Monje et al., 2021
W. confusaGCC_19R1Fermented sour riceIndiaSurvival under hGIt conditions, antimicrobial spectrum, cell surface hydrophobicity and autoaggregation,In vitro hemolytic activity, antibiotic resistanceNath et al., 2021
W. cibariaSP7 and SP19Dairy cowsKuwaitSurvival under hGIt conditions, antimicrobial spectrum, and auto- and co-aggregation, carbohydrate fermentation patterns and exopolysaccharide productionIn vitro hemolytic activity, antibiotic resistancePatrone et al., 2021
W. paramesenteroidesMN2C2Buffalo colostrumEgyptAnticancer and antioxidant activities of L-asparaginase produced by the strain on breast cancer, colorectal adenocarcinoma, hepatocellular carcinoma and lung cancer cell lines.-Amer et al., 2022
W. cibariaCMU CMS1saliva of healthy Korean childrenKoreaInhibition of the formation of multispecies colony biofilms (saliva-coated titanium disks)-Kang and Park, 2022
W. cibariaKY10Digestive tract of healthy shrimpThailandAntimicrobial activity against Vibrio parahaemolyticus, survival under hGIt conditions, hydrophobicity,Hemolytic activity, antibiotic susceptibility, biosafety evaluation in vivo (in shrimp)Kanjan et al., 2022
W. paramesenteroidesMYOS5.1Dairy productsIndiaSurvival under hGIt conditions, antimicrobial spectrum, auto- and co-aggregation, biofilm formation, exopolysaccharide production and extraction, in silico prediction of antitumor activityAntibiotic resistance, DNase activityYadav and Sunita, 2022
W. hellenicaD1501Not specifiedChinaNeuroprotective effects on the hydrogen peroxide-stimulated oxidative damage model in a neural-like cell (PC12) by soybean whey fermented with the probiotic strain-Yin et al., 2022
W. cibariaCMUSaliva of healthy Korean childrenKoreaPreventive effect and mechanism of action of CMU against Streptococcus mutans biofilm formation and periodontal pathogens (Porphyromonas gingivalis, Fusobacterium nucleatum, or Prevotella intermedia)-Kang et al., 2023a
W. cibariaD29, D30, D31, B22KimchiKoreaAntibacterial and antibiofilm effects on Streptococcus mutans, which causes dental caries-Kang et al., 2023b
W. diestrammenaeDSM 27940TGut camel cricketSud KoreaAntimicrobial spectrum, Survival under hGIt conditions, in vitro adhesion assay, auto-aggregation capacity, cell surface hydrophobicity, search of probiotic genes in the genomeHemolytic activity, antibiotic susceptibility, search of virulence and antibiotic resistance genes in the genomesFanelli et al., 2023b
W. uvarumB18NM42TGrapesGreece
P. beninensisLMG25373TFermented cassavaAfrica
P. fabalisLMG 26217TCocoa bean fermentationBrazil
P. ghanenisDSM 19935TCocoa bean fermentationGhana
P. fabariaLMG 24289TCocoa bean fermentationGhana

In vitro probiotic potential and safety assessment of weissellas and periweissellas.

TType strain.

Table 6

SpeciesStrainSourceNationProbiotic propertiesReferences
W. cibariaNot specifiedIndian fermented foodKoreaCapacity of lipoteichoic acid isolated from the probiotic strain in increasing cytokine production in human monocyte-like THP-1 cells and mouse splenocytesHong et al., 2016
W. cibariaWIKIM28Gatkimchi (kimchi made from mustard leaves)KoreaAmelioration of atopic dermatitis-like skin lesions in BALB/c miceLim et al., 2017
W. cibariaWD2Fermented cassava and waraNigeriaProtective effect against cadmium and lead toxicities in ratsOjekunle et al., 2017
W. cibariaJW15kimchiKoreaImmunomodulatory potential in aged C57BL/6J micePark et al., 2017
W. cibariaLW1, LW2 and LW3Not specifiedChinaInhibition of colonization and infection of Staphylococcus aureus in mammary glands of BALB/c miceWang L. et al., 2017
W. cibariaJW15kimchiKoreaEnhancement of immune functions by increasing natural killer cell activity in non-diabetic humans (randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled study)Lee et al., 2018
W. cibariaJW15kimchiKoreaImmune enhancing effects on BALB/c mice immunosuppressed by cyclophosphamidePark and Lee, 2018
W. paramesenteroidesWpK4Nasal mucosa of pigletsBrazilReduction of the parasitic loads of gerbils infected with Giardia lambliaFonseca et al., 2019
W. cibariaJW15kimchiKoreaImproved performance characteristics (decrease in the serum concentration of triglycerides and feces ammonia emissions; improvement of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol in serum and feces) in adult Beagle dogsSun et al., 2019
W. cibariaCMUsaliva of healthy Korean childrenKoreaSuppression of halitosis, colonization of the oral cavity, inhibition of the proliferation of oral bacteria causing malodor in beaglesDo et al., 2019
W. cibariaCMUsaliva of healthy Korean childrenKoreaInhibition of enzymes producing volatile sulfur compounds and suppression of the mgl gene expression in the malodor causing oral bacterium Porphyromonas gingivalisKim et al., 2019
W. cibariaCMUsaliva of healthy Korean childrenKoreaReduction of halitosis in humans (randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study)Lee et al., 2020
W. cibariaCMUsaliva of healthy Korean childrenKoreaReduction of periodontal tissue destruction in miceKim et al., 2020b
W. cibariaCMUsaliva of healthy Korean childrenKoreaInhibitory effect on halitosis in human (randomized placebo-controlled study)Kim et al., 2020a
W. cibariaCMUsaliva of healthy Korean childrenKoreaImprovement in the bleeding on probing and microbial environment in humans (randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study). Antimicrobial activity against Fusobacterium nucleatumKang et al., 2020
W. confusaDD_A7Not specifiedKoreaAmelioration of inflammation response against Escherichia coli O157:H7 in zebrafish larvaeDey and Kang, 2020
W. paramesenteroidesWpK4Nasal mucosa of pigletsBrazilImmunobiotic role in gut-brain axis by reduction of gut permeability, anxiety-like and depressive-like behaviors in murine models of colitis and chronic stressSandes et al., 2020
W. paramesenteroidesWpK4Nasal mucosa of pigletsBrazilAmelioration of the experimental amoebic colitis in BALB/c micePrado et al., 2020
W. cibariaMW01Chinese sauerkrautChinaAttenuation of the liposaccharide-induced dysfunction of intestinal epithelial barrier in a caco-2 cell monolayer modelHuang et al., 2020
W. confusaJMC 1093Nigerian fermented food condimentNigeriaAlleviation of formalin induced inflammation in rats by oral administration of the probiotic W. confusa strain and a Pediococcus pentosaceus strainOladajo and Oluwasola, 2021
W. cibariaCMUsaliva of healthy Korean childrenKoreaElimination of the risk of developing dental caries from acid production in the oral flora in human (randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial)Kang et al., 2021
W. cibariaMG5285Not specifiedKoreaAttenuation of fat accumulation in adipose and hepatic steatosis in high –fat diet-induced C57BL/6J obese miceChoi et al., 2021
W. confusa31-1Not specifiedIranImprovement of the growth performance, serum immune parameters, immune-related gene expression and intestinal microbiota in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)Kahyani et al., 2021
W. viridescensUCO-SMC3Adult snailsNot specifiedProtection against Cutibacterium acnes in Balb/c miceEspinoza-Monje et al., 2021
W. cibariaCMU CMS1saliva of healthy Korean childrenKoreaTherapeutic efficacy on allergic inflammation exacerbated by diesel exhaust particulate matter in a murine asthma modelDo et al., 2022
W. cibariaII-1-59Nigerian fermented food condimentNigeriaImmunomodulation and treatment of inflammation-induced anemia in Wistar ratsOladejo and Oluwasola, 2022
W. confusaVP30Children's fecesKoreaImprovement of the functional laxative effects of milk fermented with the probiotic strain in loperamide-induced constipation in ratsPark et al., 2022b
W. confusaCGMCC 19,308Human fecesChinaAntioxidant activity and prolongment of lifespan and enhancement of host defense against S. Typhimurium of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegansWang Q. et al., 2022
W. cibariaC-10Healthy crucian carpChinaEnhancement of the immunity against Aeromonas veronii infection in crucian carp by dietary supplementation with the W. cibaria strain and a B. amyloliquefaciens strainZhu et al., 2022
W. cibariaCMUsaliva of healthy Korean childrenKoreaImprovement of halitosis in human (randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled study)Han H. S. et al., 2022
W. confusaVP30Children's fecesKoreaAmelioration of functional constipation in humans (randomized, double-blind, controlled human study)Jin et al., 2023

Probiotic potential of Weissella strains by in vivo studies.

Jang et al. (2021) performed a safety assessment of W. cibaria JW15 by phenotypic (antibiotic susceptibility, production of toxic metabolites, and hemolytic activity) and genotypic analyses (whole-genome sequencing and search of virulence and antibiotic resistance genes), confirming the safety of this strain. The probiotic potential and the safety of four Periweissella and two Weissella type strains were assessed by Fanelli et al. (2023b) using phenotypic and genotypic methods. The potential probiotic P. beninensis-type strain results the only safe candidate. Furthermore, these authors confirmed the necessity of assessing the probiotic potential and safety of weissellas and periweissellas on a strain-specific basis (Fanelli et al., 2023b). Among Lactobacillaceae, Weissella species are the second only to Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus causing opportunistic (hospital-acquired) infections, but even in the case of Lc. rhamnosus, EFSA has expressed its opinion on the safety of certain strains of this species to be used as technological additive for all animal species (EFSA Panel on Additives Products or Substances used in Animal Feed et al., 2017, 2021).

An update of the probiotic potential of Weissella and Periweissella

While until 2014 few studies investigated the probiotic potential of weissellas by way of in vitro and in vivo studies (Fusco et al., 2015), from 2014 up to date, the number of such studies has increased greatly (Tables 5, 6), but, as reported in Table 5, those in vivo studies mainly involved W. cibaria strains, apart from some W. confusa and W. paramesenteroides strains and one W. viridescens strain. However, in addition to the study of Park et al. (2022a), who demonstrated the functional laxative effects of milk fermented with a probiotic W. confusa strain in loperamide-induced constipation in rats, none of the in vivo studies administered food or feed containing weissellas strains to animals or humans.

Antimicrobial activity of weissellas

According to Fusco et al. (2015), up to the year 2014, 12 articles were published on the screening of Weissella strains for their antimicrobial activity. From 2014 up to date, further investigations have investigated weissellas for their antagonistic activity against pathogens (Jang et al., 2016; Shah et al., 2016; Das Purkhayastha et al., 2017; Ye K. et al., 2018; Yu et al., 2018; Dey et al., 2019; Tenea and Israel Lara, 2019; Dinoto et al., 2021; Yeu et al., 2021; Styková et al., 2022; Yang C. et al., 2022; Yao D. et al., 2022; El-Mekkawy et al., 2023; Fanelli et al., 2023b; Table 5). In addition, Kang and Park (2022) demonstrated the in vitro inactivation of respiratory viruses, namely, human respiratory syncytial virus (RSC) and the influenza A virus (H1N1) and rotavirus by the oral probiotic strain W. cibaria CMS1, isolated from the saliva of Korean children with healthy oral cavity.

As reported by Fusco et al. (2015), up to 2014, six bacteriocins were detected in five Weissella strains. From 2014 up to date, further bacteriocins have been discovered in these bacteria. In particular, weissellicin 110 produced by a strain isolated from the yan-dong-gua (fermented wax gourd), namely, W. cibaria 860106, was characterized by Wu et al. (2015). The bacteriocin A3 produced by W. confusa A3, a strain of dairy origin, was isolated and characterized by Goh and Philip (2015). This bacteriocin inhibited the growth of strains of P. aeruginosa, Bacillus cereus, Enterococcus faecium, Micrococcus luteus, E. coli, and Lactococcus lactis (Goh and Philip, 2015). Two putatively novel bacteriocins, namely, bacteriocin 7193A and bacteriocin 7293B, produced by W. hellenica BCC 7293, isolated from Nham (Thai fermented pork sausage) were isolated by Woraprayote et al. (2015). Apart from some Gram-positive strains including Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 23235 and S. aureus ATCC 25923, both bacteriocins were found active against Gram-negative foodborne pathogens such as Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium, Aeromonas hydrophila, Escherichia coli, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

W. confusa MBF8-1, isolated from a Indonesian home-made soya product, revealed bacteriocin-like inhibitory substance (BLIS) activity against some Gram-positive bacteria including six W. confusa strains, two W. cibaria strains, a Leuconostoc mesenteroides strain, a Macrococcus luteus, and a Lactococcus lactis strain (Malik et al., 2016). Malik et al. (2016) demonstrated that the so called weissellicin MBF was encoded by a large plasmid, pWcMBF8-1. Subsequently, Sartono et al. (2019) demonstrated spermicidal and antibacterial activity against the indicator bacterium Leuconostoc mesenteroides of the bacteriocin-like peptides of W. confusa MBF8-1. BLIS that is active against non-specified Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria was found also in W. confusa LM85 by Kaur and Tiwari (2016).

Dubey and Jeevaratnam (2018) demonstrated the antimicrobial activity of W. confusa AJ79, isolated from fermented butter, against numerous pathogenic bacteria such as Citrobacter freundii, Aeromonas hydrophila, Bacillus cereus, B. subtilis, Mycobacterium smegmatis, E. coli, B. licheniformis, L. monocytogenes, Clostridium sporogenes, Klebsiella pneumoniae, C. perfringens, Micrococcus luteus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Vibrio parahaemolyticus, S. aureus, S. epidermidis, and Proteus vulgaris. These authors also isolated and characterized the relevant class II bacteriocin named BAC79 from this strain (Dubey and Jeevaratnam, 2018). Kariyawasam et al. (2019) successfully investigated the antilisterial effect of W. cibaria D30, isolated from Korean kimchi, when used as protective culture in the production of cottage cheese, but they did not ascertain to what kind of antimicrobial compound this effect was due.

Teixeira et al. (2022) sequenced the genome of W. cibaria W25, isolated from a Brazilian pasture samples of a Brazilian dairy farm, and found that this strain had the possibility of producing two different bacteriocins. Thereafter, the same authors (Teixeira et al., 2023) demonstrated a putative bacteriocinogenic activity of W. cibaria W25 against Salmonella enterica Newport, Kocuria rhizophila, Listeria innocua, and E. coli strains. The same antimicrobial spectrum was observed also in the neutralized supernatant of W. cibaria W42, isolated from the soil of a Brazilian dairy farm (Teixeira et al., 2023). Moreover, Teixeira et al. (2023) sequenced also the genomes of W. cibaria W42 and W. cibaria W21 isolated from pasture samples of a Brazilian dairy farm. In these strains, they also found the putative gene for a bacteriocin identified as bacteriocin_IIc (Teixeira et al., 2023), but the strain W21 lacks the transport-related gene and its neutralized supernatant lost antimicrobial activity, whereas the supernatant of W25 and W42 lost the antimicrobial activity only when treated with proteinase K (Teixeira et al., 2023).

Heavy metal biosorption by weissellas

Apart from antimicrobial activity of weissellas, the study of Li et al. (2021) also demonstrated the cadmium biosorption of W. viridescens ZY-6, isolated from fermented pickles, whereas Kinoshita et al. (2016) demonstrated the biosorption properties of W. viridescens MY 205 isolated from bovine intestine for the periodic group 12 metals cadmium (Cd), mercury (Hg), and zinc (Zn). Considering the detrimental effects of heavy metal pollution of food and beverages on human and animal health, the role of weissellas as heavy metal sorbents may be of high importance.

Aflatoxin-binding activity of weissellas

Weissellas may also play an important role in binding of aflatoxins. Kavitake et al. (2020), for example, demonstrated that a strain of W. confusa, isolated from an Indian traditional fermented food (Idli batter), produced a galactan exopolysaccharide with aflatoxin B1-binding activity. As in the case of heavy metals discussed above, this may prevent absorption of the aflatoxin in the human body once the food with the bacteria is ingested. However, more research in this would be required.

Exopolysaccharides produced by weissellas

Among the metabolites produced by weissellas, exopolysaccharides (EPSs) play an important role in several beneficial and technological functions. Since 2015, when Fusco et al. (2015) reviewed the research published on weissellas' EPS up to that date, a plethora of papers were published dealing with the characterization of weissellas producing EPS (Table 7). Mainly homo- but also heteropolysaccharides have been found in W. cibaria and W. confusa strains of various origin, with technological and functional properties (Table 7). The latter mainly include antioxidant, antibacterial, antifungal, anti-inflammatory, and prebiotic functions, which have been demonstrated in vitro (Table 7), while few in vivo studies have demonstrated the amelioration of functional constipation in rats and humans (Table 7).

Table 7

SpeciesStrainOriginType of EPSPropertiesReferences
W. cibariaRBA12Pummelo (Citrus maxima)Glucansucrase, glucan and oligosaccharides-Baruah and Goyal, 2015
W. confusaAJ53Fermented Uttapam batter supplemented with Piper betle L. leavesUnbranched linear (α-1 → 6 linked) dextranPrevention of syneresis, hydration properties, emulsification activity, and flocculation power, cryoprotectant activity, antioxidant activityDubey and Jeevaratnam, 2015
Weissella spp.-African spontaneously fermented Malian sour milk or cassava products from Ivory CoastDextran, glucan, levan and fructan type polymersWater solubilityMalang et al., 2015
W. confusaMBF8-1, MBF8-2, MBFCNCIndonesian beveragesFructanViscosityMalik et al., 2015
W. cibariaKJ742706Fermented Sauropus androgynusLinear dextran with α-(1 → 6) glycosidic bondsRheology, syneresis, thermal stability (280°C), cytotoxicityVasanthakumari et al., 2015
W. cibariaRBA12Pummelo (Citrus maxima)Dextran composed of 3% α - (1 → 3) and 97% α - (1 → 6) linkagesPrebiotic activityBaruah et al., 2017
W. confusaEPSWWC (wild type)-Heteropolysaccharide containing galactose as main sugarImmunomodulatory activity and antioxidant propertiesAdebayo-Tayo et al., 2018
W. confusaOF126Ogi (Nigerian fermented cereal pudding)Homopolysaccharide containing glucose monomers with α - (1 → 3) branched linkage and α - (1 → 6) linkageAntioxidant properties and water solubilityAdesulu-Dahunsi et al., 2018a
W. cibariaGA44Gari (Nigerian fermented cassava mash)Heteropolysaccharide mainly composed of rhamnose and glucose unitsAntioxidant propertiesAdesulu-Dahunsi et al., 2018b
W. confusa321Yellow corn flourHomopolysaccharide containing glucose monomers with α - (1 → 3) branched linkage and α - (1 → 6) linkageThermal stability (288°C)Petrovici et al., 2018
W. cibariaYB-1Chinese pickled cabbageDextran with α - (1 → 6) linkages and few α - (1 → 3) linked branchesWater-holding capacity, water solubility, antioxidant properties and emulsifying activityYe G. et al., 2018
W. confusaQS813Chines traditional sourdoughLow branched dextran with 97% of α - (1 → 6) linkagesRheology, syneresisTang et al., 2018, 2019
W. cibariaSJ14Sichuan paocaiHeteropolysaccharide rich in mannose and containing mannose, arabinose, galactose, glucose, rhamnose and xyloseAntioxidant propertiesZhu et al., 2018
W. confusaW4Kila (traditional Algerian cheese)α - (1 → 6) glycosidicAntioxidant properties, rheology, syneresisBenhouna et al., 2019
W. confusaKR780676Idli batterLinear galactan homopolysaccharide containing α - (1 → 6) galactose unitsThermal stability, water solubility, oil-holding capacity, flocculation properties, emulsifying activity, aflatoxin binding ability, prebiotic propertiesKavitake et al., 2019, 2020; Devi et al., 2021
W. confusaVP30Young children fecesDextran 96.5% α - (1 → 6) glycosidic bonds and 3.5% α - (1 → 3) branches-
In vivo biofunctionality for the alleviation of loperamide-induced constipation in rats
In vivo amelioration of functional constipation in humans (randomized, double-blind, controlled study)
Jin et al., 2019, 2023; Park et al., 2022a
W. confusaMD1Dosa batterMannan with α-(1,6)-linked mannose unitsAntibiofilm activity, antioxidant propertiesLakra et al., 2020b
W. cibariaKRK005Young radishGlucooligosaccharidesPrebiotic and immunostimulatory activitiesKwon and Park, 2021
W. cibariaMD2Fermented batterFructan with β- (1 → 2)linkagesThermal stability (279.9°C), in vitro and in vivo antioxidant properties, enhancement of Caenorhabditis elegansLakra et al., 2021
W. confusaWell-heated meat goulashDextranHemolytic activitySiavoshi et al., 2021
W. confusaXG-3Not specifiedLinear dextran composed of α - (1 → 6)-linked D-pyranose residuesThickener and stabilizing activities, antioxidant activity, thermal stability (306.8°C), prebiotic activityZhao D. et al., 2021
W. cibariaNC516.11Distiller grains of Chinese BaijiuGlucan with 93.46% α - (1 → 6) D-glucose linkages and 6.54% α - (1 → 3) D-glucose linked branchesWater-holding capacity and rheological propertiesLi et al., 2022
W. cibariaFMy 2-21-1Not specifiedLinear α-1,6 dextranCorrosive coating inhibitionLobo et al., 2022
W. cibariaSY003kimchiHeteropolysaccharide composed of glucose (38.95%) and galactose (61.04%) linked through α-D-Glc-(1 → and → 6)-β-D-Gal-(1 → linkage)Antioxidant activity, non-toxicity, and biocompatibilityPark et al., 2022b
W. confusaW-16Pre-fermentation liquid of wheatDextran with (1 → 3)-linked α-D- glucose units as braches at levels of 9.2%Thermal stability (300°C)
Use in combination with whey protein isolate as fat substituting in low-fat mayonnaise samples
Yalmanci et al., 2022, 2023
W. cibaria-Vegetable juiceLinear glucan containing α-1,6 glycosidic bondPrebiotic propertiesWang et al., 2023

Exopolysaccharides (EPS) produced by Weissella strains documented from 2015 up to date.

Conclusion and outlook

In the last decades the number of articles published on weissellas is increased enormously. Novel species have been discovered, the taxonomy of the genus has changed so that a new genus, namely Periweissella, has been derived from the previous genus Weissella, and new insights into the safety, biotechnological, and probiotic potential of weissellas and periweissellas have been provided. Regarding their technological characteristics, the weissellas and periweissellas have excellent potential with reference to their proteolytic and saccharolytic, as well as antimicrobial and EPS production activities, thus contributing greatly to the safety and functionality of the products. As for the safety, biotechnological, and probiotic potential, most studies focused on weissellas, mainly W. confusa and W. cibaria, but the most recent studies are focusing also on periweissellas and other species of the Weissella genus. Apart from one safety study carried out on 46 W. confusa strain allowing to define this species as safe, for the other Weissella and Periweissella species the safety assessment was carried out on few strains some of which resulted to be unsafe. These groups of LAB have a high potential for biotechnological application, and the probiotic potential of numerous strains is being demonstrated. However, for their application in food, a strain-based assessment of their safety still remains mandatory.

Statements

Author contributions

VF: Conceptualization, Methodology, Project administration, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing. DC: Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing. FF: Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing. MM: Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing. CR: Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing. CF: Funding acquisition, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing.

Funding

The author(s) declare that no financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. The author(s) declared that they were an editorial board member of Frontiers, at the time of submission. This had no impact on the peer review process and the final decision.

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Summary

Keywords

Weissella, Periweissella, lactic acid bacteria, probiotic, bacteriocin, prebiotic, exopolysaccharides, fermented food

Citation

Fusco V, Chieffi D, Fanelli F, Montemurro M, Rizzello CG and Franz CMAP (2023) The Weissella and Periweissella genera: up-to-date taxonomy, ecology, safety, biotechnological, and probiotic potential. Front. Microbiol. 14:1289937. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2023.1289937

Received

06 September 2023

Accepted

14 November 2023

Published

11 December 2023

Volume

14 - 2023

Edited by

Michael Gänzle, University of Alberta, Canada

Reviewed by

Ömer Şimşek, Yildiz Technical University, Türkiye; Kumaraswamy Jeyaram, Institute of Bioresources and Sustainable Development (IBSD), India

Updates

Copyright

*Correspondence: Charles M. A. P. Franz

Disclaimer

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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