Editing Corynebacterium (section)

{{Short description|Genus of bacteria}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| image = Corynebacterium ulcerans 01.jpg
| image_alt = "Corynebacterium ulcerans" colonies on a blood agar plate
| image_caption = ''[[Corynebacterium ulcerans]]'' colonies on a [[blood agar]] plate
| taxon = Corynebacterium
| parent_authority = Lehmann and Neumann 1907 (Approved Lists 1980)<ref>{{cite book |vauthors=Lehmann KB, Neumann R | title = Lehmann's Medizin, Handatlanten X. Atlas und Grundriss der Bakteriologie und Lehrbuch der speziellen bakteriologischen Diagnostik | trans-title = Lehmann's Medicine, Handbook X. Atlas and outline of bacteriology and textbook of special bacteriological diagnostics | edition = 4th | publisher = J. F. Lehmann | location = Munchen | year = 1907}}</ref>
| authority = Lehmann and Neumann 1896 (Approved Lists 1980)<ref>{{cite book |vauthors=Lehmann KB, Neumann R | title = Atlas und Grundriss der Bakteriologie und Lehrbuch der speziellen bakteriologischen Diagnostik | trans-title = Atlas and outline of bacteriology and textbook of special bacteriological diagnostics | edition = 1st | publisher = J.F. Lehmann | location = München | year = 1896}}</ref>
| type_species = ''[[Corynebacterium diphtheriae]]''
| type_species_authority = (Kruse 1886) Lehmann and Neumann 1896 (Approved Lists 1980)
| synonyms =
* ''Bacterionema'' <small>Gilmour ''et al''. 1961 (Approved Lists 1980)</small>
* ''Caseobacter'' <small>Crombach 1978 (Approved Lists 1980)</small>
* ''Turicella'' <small>Funke ''et al''. 1994</small>
| synonyms_ref =
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision = See text.
}}

'''''Corynebacterium''''' ({{IPAc-en|k|ɔː|ˈ|r|aɪ|n|ə|b|æ|k|ˌ|t|ɪər|i|ə|m|,_|-|ˈ|r|ɪ|n|-}}) is a [[genus]] of  [[Gram-positive bacteria]] and most are [[aerobe|aerobic]]. They are [[bacillus (shape)|bacilli]] (rod-shaped), and in some phases of life they are, more specifically, [[club (weapon)|club]]-shaped, which inspired the genus name (''[[coryneform]]'' means "club-shaped").

They are widely distributed in nature in the [[microbiota]] of [[animal]]s (including the [[human microbiota]]) and are mostly innocuous, most commonly existing in [[commensalism|commensal]] relationships with their hosts.<ref name="caspium">{{cite journal |doi=10.1099/ijs.0.02950-0 |pmid=15143043 |title=''Corynebacterium caspium'' sp. nov., from a Caspian seal (Phoca caspica) |journal=International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology |volume=54 |issue=3 |pages=925–8 |year=2004 |last1=Collins |first1=M. D. |doi-access=free }}</ref> Some, such as ''[[Corynebacterium glutamicum|C. glutamicum]]'', are commercially and industrially useful.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Poetsch|first=A.|title=Proteomics of corynebacteria: From biotechnology workhorses to pathogens|journal=Proteomics|volume=11|issue=15|pages=3244–3255|doi=10.1002/pmic.201000786|pmid=21674800|year=2011|s2cid=44274690}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |editor=Burkovski A. |title=Corynebacteria: Genomics and Molecular Biology |publisher=Caister Academic Press |year=2008 |url=http://www.horizonpress.com/cory |isbn=978-1-904455-30-1}}{{page needed|date=January 2017}}</ref><ref name="JGAM_1957">{{Cite journal |author=Kinoshita, Shukuo; Udaka, Shigezo; Shimono, Masakazu |date=1957 |title=Studies on the amino acid fermentation. Part 1. Production of L-glutamic acid by various microorganisms |journal=The Journal of General and Applied Microbiology |volume=3 |issue=3 |pages=193–205 |doi=10.2323/jgam.3.193 |doi-access=free |pmid=15965888}}</ref><ref name="Nature_1972">{{Cite journal |author=Kinoshita, Shukuo|date=1972-11-24 |title=Amino-acid Producnon by the Fermentation Process |journal=Nature |volume=240 |issue= 5378|pages=211 |doi=10.1038/240211a0 |doi-access=free |pmid= 4569416}}</ref> Others can cause human disease, including, most notably, [[diphtheria]], which is caused by ''[[Corynebacterium diphtheriae|C. diphtheriae]]''. Like various species of microbiota (including their relatives in the genera ''[[Arcanobacterium]]'' and ''[[Trueperella]]''), they are usually not [[pathogen]]ic, but can occasionally capitalize [[opportunistic infection|opportunistically]] on atypical access to [[tissue (biology)|tissues]] (via [[wound]]s) or [[immunodeficiency|weakened host defenses]].