Veillonella


Veillonella are Gram-negative bacteria anaerobic cocci. This bacterium is well known for its lactate fermenting abilities. It is a normal bacterium in the intestines and oral mucosa of mammals. In humans they have been implicated in cases of osteomyelitis and endocarditis, for example with the species Veillonella parvula.

Fermentation

Lactate is fermented to propionate and acetate by the methylmalonyl-CoA pathway. Little ATP is produced in this fermentation. High substrate affinity is suggested to be the reason.
3 Lactate → acetate + 2 propionate + +
A study of Veillonella in endurance athletes found that a relative abundance of the bacteria in the gut is associated with increased treadmill run time performance. This effect was demonstrated to be due to the organism's propionate metabolite produced from lactic acid.

Phylogeny

The currently accepted taxonomy is based on the List of Prokaryotic names with Standing in Nomenclature and National Center for Biotechnology Information
and the phylogeny is based on 16S rRNA-based LTP release 111 by The All-Species Living Tree Project