In 2016, a new species name Cutibacterium acnes was coined for the well-documented species, Propionibacterium acnes, one of the most successful and clinically important skin commensals. The nomenclatural changes were brought about through creation of the genus Cutibacterium, when a group of propionibacteria isolates from the skin were transferred from the genus Propionibacterium and placed in the phylum Actinobacteria.

Almost simultaneously, the discovery of two novel species of Cutibacterium occurred and the proposal of three subspecies of C. acnes were reported. These dramatic changes that occurred in a long-established taxon made it challenging for the non-specialist to correlate the huge volume of hitherto published work with current findings. In this review, we aim to correlate the eco-specificity and pathophysiological properties of these newly circumscribed taxa. We envisage that this information will shed light on the pathogenic potential of new isolates and enable better assessment of their clinical importance in the foreseeable future.

Currently, five species are recognized within the genus: Cutibacterium acnes, Cutibacterium avidum, Cutibacterium granulosum, Cutibacterium modestum (previously, “Propionibacterium humerusii”), and Cutibacterium namnetense. These reside in different niches reflecting their uniqueness in their genetic makeup. Their pathogenicity includes acne inflammation, sarcoidosis, progressive macular hypomelanosis, prostate cancer, and infections (bone, lumbar disc, and heart). This is also the case for the three newly described subspecies of C. acnes, which are C. acnes subspecies acnes (C. acnes type I), subspecies defendens (C. acnes type II), and subspecies elongatum (C. acnes type III). C. acnes subspecies acnes is related to inflamed acne and sarcoidosis, while subspecies defendens to prostate cancer and subspecies elongatum to progressive macular hypomelanosis. Because the current nomenclature is based upon polyphasic analyses of the biochemical and pathogenic characteristics and comparative genomics, it provides a sound basis studying the pathophysiological roles of these species.

2016 年，一个新的物种名称痤疮皮肤杆菌被创造为有据可查的物种痤疮丙酸杆菌，它是最成功和临床上最重要的皮肤共生菌之一。当一组从皮肤中分离出来的丙酸杆菌从丙酸杆菌属转移到放线杆菌门中时，命名法的改变是通过皮肤杆菌属的产生而引起的。

几乎同时，发现了两种新的角质杆菌，并报道了三种痤疮丙酸杆菌亚种的提议。在一个历史悠久的分类单元中发生的这些巨大变化使得非专业人士很难将迄今为止发表的大量工作与当前的发现联系起来。在这篇综述中，我们旨在将这些新界定的分类群的生态特异性和病理生理学特性关联起来。我们设想这些信息将揭示新分离株的致病潜力，并在可预见的未来更好地评估它们的临床重要性。

目前，该属内已识别出五个物种：痤疮角质杆菌、鸟角质杆菌、细粒角质杆菌、普通角质杆菌（以前称为“肱骨丙酸杆菌”）和南氏角质杆菌。它们存在于不同的生态位中，反映了它们在基因构成方面的独特性。它们的致病性包括痤疮炎症、结节病、进行性黄斑色素减退症、前列腺癌和感染（骨、腰椎间盘和心脏）。三个新描述的痤疮丙酸杆菌亚种也是如此，它们是痤疮丙酸杆菌亚种（C.acnesI 型）、防御亚种（C.acnes II 型）和细长亚种（ C.acnes III型）。C. 痤疮亚种痤疮与发炎的痤疮和结节病有关，而亚种与前列腺癌有关，而细长亚种与进行性黄斑色素减退症有关。因为目前的命名法是基于对生化和致病特征以及比较基因组学的多相分析，它为研究这些物种的病理生理学作用提供了良好的基础。