Corynebacterium genitalium sp. nov., nom. rev. and Corynebacterium pseudogenitalium sp. nov., nom. rev., two old species of the genus Corynebacterium described from clinical and environmental samples

Two Corynebacterium species were proposed decades ago, isolated from clinical samples and divided into biovars: Corynebacterium genitalium biovars I-V and Corynebacterium pseudogenitalium biovars C1 -C6. Several biovars have been re-classified as new species. Nevertheless, biovar I and C5, together with their respective specific epithets Corynebacterium genitalium and Corynebacterium pseudogenitalium, remained not validly published after more than 40 years. Several more strains, temptatively classified as C. genitalium biovar I and Corynebacterium pseudogenitalium C5, have been isolated from clinical and environmental samples. Both species presented Gram-positive, non-spore forming rod-shaped cells, able to grow aerobically with CO2. Core-genome analysis identified C. genitalium to be most closely related to Corynebacterium tuscaniense, Corynebacterium urinipleomorphum, Corynebacterium aquatimens and C appendicis, and Corynebacterium gottingense as the most closely related species to C. pseudogenitalium. Comprehensive genomic, genotypic, phenotypic analyses, as well as chemotaxonomic, support the proposal for C. genitalium and C. pseudogenitalium as distinct species within the genus Corynebacterium. The designated type strains of the two species are Furness 392-1T = ATCC 33030T = CCUG 38989T = CCM 9178T = DSM 113155T for C. genitalium sp. nov., nom. rev., and Furness 162-C2T = ATCC 33039T = CCUG 27540T = CCM 9177T = DSM 113154T for C. pseudogenitalium sp. nov., nom. rev. (c) 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Masson SAS on behalf of Institut Pasteur. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Automated summary

Decades ago, two Corynebacterium species were proposed and divided into biovars. Several strains classified as C. genitalium biovar I and Corynebacterium pseudogenitalium C5 have been isolated, and comprehensive analysis supports their recognition as distinct species within the genus Corynebacterium. The type strains for C. genitalium and C. pseudogenitalium are designated as Furness 392-1T and Furness 162-C2T, respectively.