Source: Arlington Scientific Inc., http://www.arlingtonscientific.com/

As the above sections have shown, Leuconostoc mesenteroides have beneficial and harmful characteristics.  Many of these have significant effects on industry and individuals.  Research is continuing in several areas: 

• Investigating pathogens:  In response to the recent recognition of Leuconostoc mesenteroides as having a strain that acts as a pathogen, scientists are doing studies.  The Journal of Clinical Microbiology tells of one case where doctors claimed that a woman who already had an immune system experiencing problems developed brain lesions caused by Leuconostoc mesenteroides.

• Reducing the amount of salt used when making fermented and pickled products:  The United States Department of Agriculture tells of one study that focused on decreasing the salt used in sauerkraut.  Some want the amount of salt use to decrease.  This would decrease the amount of waste.  This is important as some of the waste does not degrade biologically.

• Reducing polysaccharide slime: The goal behind these studies is to reduce the amount of food being spoiled, such as, that seen in the sugar cane and sugar beet industries.  One study has looked, for example, at how a bacteria from fish can possibly work as a natural toxin against Leuconostoc mesenteroides.

• Increase the yield of levans and dextrans: These same substances that cause “polysaccharide slime” are useful in the cosmetic industry and in the pharmaceutical industry in making products such as plasma extenders.  Some studies focus on how to create the maximum amount of these substances in a lab environment for business purposes.

• Examining the possibilities of cloning: One area of research focused on documenting that transfer of genetic material could occur between Leuconostoc mesenteroides and Lactococcus lactis in a conjugation type process.  Their doing so established the possibility of pursuing cloning between these bacteria.