Journal
TOXICON
Volume 224, Issue -, Pages -Publisher
PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.toxicon.2023.107036
Keywords
Botulinum neurotoxin; Clostridium botulinum; Botulinum neurotoxin-producing clostridia; Taxonomy
Categories
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Botulinum neurotoxin-producing species of Clostridium exhibit high diversity, with at least four different species identified. Non-toxigenic strains closely related to toxigenic strains are likely the same species. Previous proposals to reclassify these organisms have been hindered by the concern of confusion within the healthcare and scientific community.
Botulinum neurotoxin-producing species of Clostridium are highly diverse. Clostridium botulinum could represent at least four different species of Clostridium. In addition, strains that do not produce botulinum neurotoxin are closely related to toxigenic strains, probably representing the same species. Although reclassification of these organisms has been proposed in the past, their species names have remained unchanged, mainly because of the premise that changing names of medically relevant organisms might cause confusion in the healthcare and scientific community. In this review, we discuss the possible unintended consequences of reclassifying botulinum neurotoxin-producing species of Clostridium, which are of public health, medical, and biodefense interest.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available