Lactobacillus is a genus of Gram-positive facultative anaerobic or microaerophilic bacteria. In humans, they are symbiotic and are found in the gut flora. Lactobacillus species are used for the production of yogurt, cheese, sauerkraut, pickles, beer, wine, cider, kimchi, chocolate, and other fermented foods, as well as animal feeds such as silage. In recent years, much interest has been shown in the use of lactobacilli as probiotic organisms and their potential for disease prevention in humans and animals. This major new work focuses on recent research on the molecular biology and genomics of...