Lactiplantibacillus (Lac.ti.plan.ti.ba.cil'lus. L. neut. n. lactis milk; L. fem. n. planta plant, referring to the plantarum -group lactobacilli; L. masc. n. bacillus a rod; N.L. masc. n. Lactiplantibacillus a milk derived rodlet from the (Lactobacillus) plantarum group.

Lactiplantibacillus species are Gram-positive, non-sporeforming, homofermentative and non-motile rods. Lactiplantibacillus species ferment a wide range of carbohydrates; most species metabolise phenolic acids by esterase, decarboxylase and reductase activities. Lactiplantibacillus plantarum is atypical for its pseudocatalase activity and reduction of nitrate. For discrimination between the two subspecies of L. plantarum, sequencing of the recA and cpn60 genes or AFLP profiling is necessary [228, 229]. The mol % G+C content of DNA ranges between 42.9 and 48.7.

Lactiplantibacillus species are isolated from many different fermented foods including fermented vegetables, meats, dairy products, and fermented cereals [58, 59], but they are also found in insect-associated habitats or as temporary residents of vertebrate intestinal microbiota and are characterized by a nomadic behaviour [230]. L. plantarum has been widely used as a model species for metabolic, ecological, and genetic studies in lactobacilli. L. plantarum is of commercial importance as starter culture for multiple food fermentations, and is applied as probiotic culture.

A phylogenetic tree on the basis of 16S rRNA genes of all species in the genus Lactiplantibacillus is provided in Figure S6K.

The type species is Lactiplantibacillus plantarum comb. nov.; Lactiplantibacillus was previously referred to as L. plantarum group.