Corynebacterium

Corynebacterium
"Corynebacterium ulcerans" colonies on a blood agar plate
Corynebacterium ulcerans colonies on a blood agar plate
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Bacteria
Phylum: Actinomycetota
Class: Actinomycetia
Order: Mycobacteriales
Family: Corynebacteriaceae
Lehmann and Neumann 1907 (Approved Lists 1980)[2]
Genus: Corynebacterium
Lehmann and Neumann 1896 (Approved Lists 1980)[1]
Type species
Corynebacterium diphtheriae
(Kruse 1886) Lehmann and Neumann 1896 (Approved Lists 1980)
Species

See text.

Synonyms
  • Bacterionema Gilmour et al. 1961 (Approved Lists 1980)
  • Caseobacter Crombach 1978 (Approved Lists 1980)
  • Turicella Funke et al. 1994

Corynebacterium (/kɔːˈraɪnəbækˌtɪəriəm, -ˈrɪn-/) is a genus of Gram-positive bacteria and most are aerobic. They are bacilli (rod-shaped), and in some phases of life they are, more specifically, club-shaped, which inspired the genus name (coryneform means "club-shaped").

They are widely distributed in nature in the microbiota of animals (including the human microbiota) and are mostly innocuous, most commonly existing in commensal relationships with their hosts.[3] Some, such as C. glutamicum, are commercially and industrially useful.[4][5][6][7] Others can cause human disease, including, most notably, diphtheria, which is caused by C. diphtheriae. As with various species of microbiota (including their relatives in the genera Arcanobacterium and Trueperella), they usually are not pathogenic, but can occasionally opportunistically capitalize on atypical access to tissues (via wounds) or weakened host defenses.

  1. ^ Lehmann KB, Neumann R (1896). Atlas und Grundriss der Bakteriologie und Lehrbuch der speziellen bakteriologischen Diagnostik [Atlas and outline of bacteriology and textbook of special bacteriological diagnostics] (1st ed.). München: J.F. Lehmann.
  2. ^ Lehmann KB, Neumann R (1907). Lehmann's Medizin, Handatlanten X. Atlas und Grundriss der Bakteriologie und Lehrbuch der speziellen bakteriologischen Diagnostik [Lehmann's Medicine, Handbook X. Atlas and outline of bacteriology and textbook of special bacteriological diagnostics] (4th ed.). Munchen: J. F. Lehmann.
  3. ^ Collins, M. D. (2004). "Corynebacterium caspium sp. nov., from a Caspian seal (Phoca caspica)". International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology. 54 (3): 925–8. doi:10.1099/ijs.0.02950-0. PMID 15143043.
  4. ^ Poetsch, A. (2011). "Proteomics of corynebacteria: From biotechnology workhorses to pathogens". Proteomics. 11 (15): 3244–3255. doi:10.1002/pmic.201000786. PMID 21674800. S2CID 44274690.
  5. ^ Burkovski A., ed. (2008). Corynebacteria: Genomics and Molecular Biology. Caister Academic Press. ISBN 978-1-904455-30-1.[page needed]
  6. ^ Kinoshita, Shukuo; Udaka, Shigezo; Shimono, Masakazu (1957). "Studies on the amino acid fermentation. Part 1. Production of L-glutamic acid by various microorganisms". The Journal of General and Applied Microbiology. 3 (3): 193–205. doi:10.2323/jgam.3.193. PMID 15965888.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  7. ^ Kinoshita, Shukuo (1972-11-24). "Amino-acid Producnon by the Fermentation Process". Nature. 240 (5378): 211. doi:10.1038/240211a0. PMID 4569416.