Gram-positive bacteria am I.

Cocci is the shape I take.

We exist in pairs,

Or form a small chain.

No spores do I form.

No movement do I make.

Lactic acid I can produce,

L+ mostly but sometimes -D,

Only when cultured at high acidity.

I’m kept alive for treatment of disease,

As well as in the making of buttermilk and cheese.

So used am I in cheese production, that in 2010,

I was named the official state microbe, by Wisconsin men.