DESCRIPTION OF SOME CORYNEFORM BACTERIA ISOLATED FROM HUMAN CLINICAL SPECIMENS AS CORYNEBACTERIUM-FALSENII SP-NOV

Over a five-year period, four strains of a yellowish-pigmented corynef orm bacterium were received for identification by the Culture Collecti on of the University of Goteborg. All strains had been isolated from n ormally sterile human body fluids, Initial biochemical characterizatio n revealed that all four isolates were very similar, with weak pyrazin amidase and urease activities, as well as slow fermentative acid produ ction from glucose as the most significant phenotypic features which d ifferentiated the strains from all other presently defined corynebacte ria. Chemotaxonomic investigations demonstrated that the strains belon ged to the genus Corynebacterium, SDS-PACE of whole-cell proteins sugg ested that all four strains were representatives of the same species, Comparative 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis unambiguously demonstrated that the four strains were genealogically related and represent a new subline within the genus Corynebacterium for which the designation Co rynebacterium falsenii sp, nov, is proposed, The type strain of Coryne bacterium falsenii is CCUG 33651.