Reclassification of'Corynebacterium haemolyticum' (MacLean, Liebow & Rosenberg) in the genus Arcanobacterium gen.nov. as Arcanobacterium haemolyticum nom.rev., comb.nov.

Abstract

'Corynebacterium haemolyticum' differs to such an extent from the type species of Corynebacterium, C. diphtheriae, that it should be removed from this genus. Chemical and numerical phenetic data indicate that 'C. haemolyticum' is a distinct taxon worthy of generic status. A new genus, Arcanobacterium, is described for the species A. haemolyticum nov.rev., comb.nov. The genus is tentatively placed within the 'coryneform group of bacterium'. The type species of the genus is Arcanobacterium haemolyticum and the type strain is ATCC 9345.