Corynebacterium aurimucosum sp. nov. and emended description of Corynebacterium minutissimum Collins and Jones (1983).

Two coryneform bacteria isolated from human clinical specimens were characterized by phenotypic and molecular taxonomic methods. Chemotaxonomic investigations revealed the presence of cell-wall chemotype IV and short-chain mycolic acids consistent with the genus Corynebacterium sensu stricto. Comparative 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis showed that the two strains are genealogically highly related (99.8% sequence similarity) and constitute a new subline within the genus Corynebacterium, with Corynebacterium minutissimum as their nearest phylogenetic neighbours (98.8% sequence similarity). However, DNA-DNA hybridization experiments demonstrated unambiguously that the isolates are genealogically distinct from Corynebacterium minutissimum (42% homology). Biochemical testing indicated that the two isolates were hardly differentiated from Corynebacterium minutissimum. Based on both phenotypic and phylogenetic evidence it is proposed that these isolates be classified as a new species, Corynebacterium aurimucosum sp. nov. The type strain of Corynebacterium aurimucosum is represented by strain IMMIB D-1488T (= DSM 44532T = NRRL B-24143T).