A group of six clinical isolates previously identified as Corynebacterium diphtheriae biovar Belfanti, isolated from human cutaneous or peritoneum infections and from one dog, were characterized by genomic sequencing, biochemical analysis and MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry. The six isolates were negative for the diphtheria toxin gene. Phylogenetic analyses showed that the six isolates (including FRC0190^T) are clearly demarcated from C. diphtheriae, Corynebacterium belfantii, Corynebacterium ulcerans and Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis. The average nucleotide identity of FRC0190^T with C. diphtheriae NCTC11397^T was 92.6%, and was 91.8% with C. belfantii FRC0043^T. C. diphtheriae subsp. lausannense strain CHUV2995^T appeared to be a later heterotypic synonym of C. belfantii (ANI, 99.3%). Phenotyping data revealed an atypical negative or heterogeneous intermediate maltose fermentation reaction for the six isolates. MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry differentiated the new group from the other Corynebacterium taxa by the presence of specific spectral peaks. rpoB sequences showed identity to atypical, maltose-negative C. diphtheriae biovar Belfanti isolates previously described from two cats in the USA. We propose the name Corynebacterium rouxii sp. nov. for the novel group, with FRC0190^T (= CIP 111752^T = DSM 110354^T) as type strain.

通过基因组测序，生化分析和MALDI-TOF质谱对一组先前从人皮肤或腹膜感染以及从一只狗中分离出的六种临床分离株进行了鉴定，该分离株为白喉棒状杆菌。这六个分离株对白喉毒素基因呈阴性。系统发育分析表明，这6种分离株（包括FRC0190 ^T）清楚地与白喉衣原体，棒杆菌杆菌，溃疡杆菌和假结核杆菌分开。FRC0190 ^T与白喉念珠菌NCTC11397 ^T的平均核苷酸同一性为92.6％，而与C.C. belfantii FRC0043 ^Ť。白喉衣原体亚种 lausannense菌株CHUV2995 ^T似乎是C. belfantii（ANI，99.3％）的后来异型同义词。表型分析数据表明，这六个分离物具有非典型的负性或异质性中间麦芽糖发酵反应。MALDI-TOF质谱通过特定光谱峰的存在将新组别与其他棒状杆菌分类区分开。rpoB序列与先前从美国的两只猫中描述的非典型的，麦芽糖阴性的白喉衣原体生物变种Belfanti分离株具有相同性。我们建议名称为棒状杆菌sp。十一月 对于新组，将FRC0190 ^T（= CIP 111752 ^T  = DSM 110354 ^T）作为类型株。