ABSTRACT
Corynebacterium was originally defined in 1896 by Lehmann and Neumann to accommodate nonmotile parasitic and pathogenic bacteria including diphtheroid bacilli. The current number of validated Corynebacterium species in 2019 exceeds 132. A phylogenetic tree using a maximum likelihood analysis, based on approx. Corynebacterium species can be isolated from a number of sources. Nonpathogenic species are found in a broad variety of habitats such as dairy products, animal fodder, rotting plant material, and also in soil as is the case with the biotechnologically important C. glutamicum. Pathogenic species are isolated from human or animal specimens, where they occur either as true pathogens or as cutaneous or mucocutaneous contaminants. Interestingly, in some properties, the architecture and function of the cell wall of the Gram-positive Corynebacterium and related genera like Mycobacterium resembles those of the Gram-negative cell envelope, although the molecular details are strikingly different.
