Corynebacterium freiburgense sp. nov., isolated from a wound obtained from a dog bite

Abstract

A non-lipophilic, coryneform bacterium, isolated from a patient's wound obtained from a dog bite, was characterized by phenotypic, chemotaxonomic and molecular genetic methods. Chemotaxonomic features suggested assignment of the unknown bacterium to the genus Corynebacterium. The isolate exhibited the following peculiar features which made it possible to differentiate it phenotypically from all other medically relevant corynebacteria: older colonies exhibited a 'spoke-wheel' macroscopic morphology, colonies were strongly adherent to blood agar and the strain did not have pyrazinamidase activity, but was positive for beta-galactosidase. 16S rRNA gene sequencing showed that the closest phylogenetic relative exhibited more than 3.9% divergence from the unknown isolate. Based on phenotypic and molecular genetic data, it is proposed that the isolate should be classified as a representative of a novel species, Corynebacterium freiburgense sp. nov., with strain 1045T (=CCUG 56874T=DSM 45254T) as the type strain.