Name: Legionella Brenner et al. 1979 (Approved Lists 1980)

Category: Genus

Proposed as: gen. nov.

Etymology: Le.gi.o.nel’la. L. fem. n. legio (gen. legionis), a body of soldiers, legion; L. fem. dim. n. suff. -ella, diminutive ending; N.L. fem. dim. n. Legionella, small legion or army

Gender, pronunciation (Latin): feminine (stem: Legionell-), le-gi-o-NEL-la

Type species: Legionella pneumophila Brenner et al. 1979 (Approved Lists 1980)

Conduct genome-based taxonomy of genus at TYGS

16S rRNA gene: Analyse FASTA

Effective publication: Brenner DJ, Steigerwalt AG, McDade JE. Classification of the Legionnaires' disease bacterium: Legionella pneumophila, genus novum, species nova, of the family Legionellaceae, familia nova. Ann Intern Med 1979; 90:656-658.

IJSEM list: Skerman VBD, McGowan V, Sneath PHA. Approved lists of bacterial names. Int J Syst Bacteriol 1980; 30:225-420.

Nomenclatural status: validly published under the ICNP

Taxonomic status: correct name

Risk group: 2

• Synonyms:

  • Name	Kind
    Fluoribacter Garrity et al. 1980	heterotypic synonym, validly published under the ICNP
    Tatlockia Garrity et al. 1980	heterotypic synonym, validly published under the ICNP
    Sarcobium Drozanski 1991	heterotypic synonym, validly published under the ICNP

• Emendations:
  • Saini and Gupta 2021 Saini N, Gupta RS. A robust phylogenetic framework for members of the order Legionellales and its main genera (Legionella, Aquicella, Coxiella and Rickettsiella) based on phylogenomic analyses and identification of molecular markers demarcating different clades. Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek 2021; 114:957-982. 🇨🇦 Oren A, Garrity GM. List of changes in taxonomic opinion no. 35. Notification of changes in taxonomic opinion previously published outside the IJSEM. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 2022; 72:5164.

• Notes:
  • 🥇 Nomenclatural type of the family Legionellaceae Brenner et al. 1979 (Approved Lists 1980). Publication: Brenner DJ, Steigerwalt AG, McDade JE. Classification of the Legionnaires' disease bacterium: Legionella pneumophila, genus novum, species nova, of the family Legionellaceae, familia nova. Ann Intern Med 1979; 90:656-658.
  • 🥇 Nomenclatural type of the order Legionellales Garrity et al. 2005. Publication: Garrity GM, Bell JA, Lilburn T. Order VI. Legionellales ord. nov. In: Brenner DJ, Krieg NR, Staley JT, Garrity GM (eds), Bergey's Manual of Systematic Bacteriology, 2nd edn, vol. 2 (The Proteobacteria), part B (The Gammaproteobacteria), Springer, New York, 2005, p. 210. 🇺🇸
  • 🧕 Brenner et al. (2005) assigned this genus to the order Legionellales Garrity et al. 2005. Publication: Garrity GM, Bell JA, Lilburn T. Order VI. Legionellales ord. nov. In: Brenner DJ, Krieg NR, Staley JT, Garrity GM (eds), Bergey's Manual of Systematic Bacteriology, 2nd edn, vol. 2 (The Proteobacteria), part B (The Gammaproteobacteria), Springer, New York, 2005, p. 210. 🇺🇸
  • 🙄 This taxon name is occasionally misprinted (or affected by an OCR error) in some sources as: "Lcgionella"; "Legianella"; "Legioenella"; "Legionalla"; "Legionclla"; "Legionefla"; "Legionela"; "Legionelfa"; "Legionelh"; "Legionellti"; "Legionellu"; "Legionelta"; "Legionetia"; "Legionetla"; "Legionetta"; "Legioneua"; "Legioniella"; "Legionnella"; "Legionrlla"; "Legiotnella"; "Ltgionella".
  • 💁 Taxonomists who have recently focused on this group are the corresponding authors of Benson et al. (1996). Editors in search of reviewers are advised to consider additional criteria such as whether a taxon is covered by one of the ICSP subcommittees.
  • 🎰 The BRCs most frequently used for deposits in this group are: DSM: 62; CCUG: 60; ATCC: 57; CIP: 45; NCTC: 43; JCM: 18; KCTC: 4; CSUR: 3; NBIMCC: 2; IMVS: 2.
  • 😷 The risk group for Canada has been imported on 2024-02-27. The full classification is: risk group = 2, note = "Animal classification RG: 1 - Security sensitive biological agent: No - Terrestrial animal pathogen under Canadian Food Inspection Agency authority: No - Containment level: Containment Level 2". — The risk group for France has been imported on 2024-08-30. The full classification is: risk group = 2. — The risk group for Sweden has been imported on 2024-02-05. The full classification is: risk group = 2. — The risk group for Taiwan has been imported on 2024-11-03. The full classification is: risk group = 2, note = "P650 = v". — The risk group for United Kingdom has been imported on 2024-01-31. The full classification is: risk group = 2. — The risk group for United States has been imported on 2024-02-09. The full classification is: risk group = 2. — If in doubt, use the risk group given in the regulations for your country and, if these are not available, use the risk group given in the catalogue of the culture collection from which you have obtained or intend to obtain the strain.
  • 🧍 Pittman et al. (1991) suggested the abbreviation "LGNL" for this genus name but this does not appear to be of practical relevance any longer. Publication: Pittman KF, Walczak CA, Lock CM. Codes and abbreviations for approved of effectively published names of genera of bacteria published from January 1980 to December 1990. Int J Syst Bacteriol 1991; 41:571-579.

Subdivision:

Number of child taxa with a validly published and correct name: 69
Number of child taxa with a validly published name, including synonyms: 70
Total number of child taxa: 77

• Child taxa:

  • Name	Nomenclatural status	Taxonomic status
    Legionella adelaidensis Benson et al. 1991	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Legionella anisa Gorman et al. 1985	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Legionella antarctica Shimada et al. 2022	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Legionella beliardensis Lo Presti et al. 2001	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Legionella birminghamensis Wilkinson et al. 1988	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Legionella bononiensis Girolamini et al. 2022	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Legionella bozemanae corrig. (Garrity et al. 1980) Brenner et al. 1980	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Legionella bozemanii (Garrity et al. 1980) Brenner et al. 1980	inaccurate spelling	misspelling
    Legionella brunensis Wilkinson et al. 1989	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Legionella busanensis Park et al. 2003	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Legionella cardiaca Pearce et al. 2012	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Legionella cherrii Brenner et al. 1985	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Legionella cincinnatiensis Thacker et al. 1989	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    "Legionella clemsonensis" Palmer et al. 2016	not validly published	preferred name
    "Legionella donaldsonii" Lo Presti et al. 1999	not validly published	preferred name
    Legionella drancourtii La Scola et al. 2004	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Legionella dresdenensis Lück et al. 2010	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Legionella drozanskii Adeleke et al. 2001	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Legionella dumoffii Brenner et al. 1980	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Legionella erythra Brenner et al. 1985	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Legionella fairfieldensis Thacker et al. 1991	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Legionella fallonii Adeleke et al. 2001	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Legionella feeleii Herwaldt et al. 1984	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Legionella geestiana Dennis et al. 1993	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Legionella gormanii Morris et al. 1980	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Legionella gratiana Bornstein et al. 1991	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Legionella gresilensis Lo Presti et al. 2001	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Legionella hackeliae Brenner et al. 1985	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Legionella impletisoli Kuroki et al. 2007	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    "Legionella indianapolisensis" Relich et al. 2018	not validly published	preferred name
    Legionella israelensis Bercovier et al. 1986	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Legionella jamestowniensis Brenner et al. 1985	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    "Candidatus Legionella jeonii" Park et al. 2004	not validly published	pro-correct name
    Legionella jordanis Cherry et al. 1982	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Legionella lansingensis Thacker et al. 1994	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Legionella londiniensis Dennis et al. 1993	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Legionella longbeachae McKinney et al. 1982	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Legionella lytica (Drozanski 1991) Hookey et al. 1996	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Legionella maceachernii Brenner et al. 1985	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Legionella maioricensis Crespi et al. 2023	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Legionella massiliensis Campocasso et al. 2012	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Legionella micdadei (Garrity et al. 1980) Hébert et al. 1980	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Legionella moravica Wilkinson et al. 1989	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Legionella nagasakiensis Yang et al. 2012	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Legionella nautarum Dennis et al. 1993	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Legionella nigrisilvae Rios Galicia et al. 2026	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Legionella norrlandica Rizzardi et al. 2015	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Legionella oakridgensis Orrison et al. 1983	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Legionella parisiensis Brenner et al. 1985	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    "Legionella petroniana" Cristino et al. 2026	not validly published	preferred name
    Legionella pittsburghensis Pasculle et al. 1980	validly published under the ICNP, illegitimate name	synonym
    Legionella pneumophila Brenner et al. 1979 (Approved Lists 1980)	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    "Candidatus Legionella polyplacis" Rihova et al. 2017	not validly published	preferred name
    Legionella qingyii Wu et al. 2019	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Legionella quateirensis Dennis et al. 1993	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Legionella quinlivanii Benson et al. 1990	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Legionella resiliens Cristino et al. 2024	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Legionella rowbothamii Adeleke et al. 2001	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Legionella rubrilucens Brenner et al. 1985	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Legionella sainthelensi Campbell et al. 1984	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Legionella santicrucis Brenner et al. 1985	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Legionella saoudiensis Bajrai et al. 2016	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Legionella septentrionalis Li et al. 2021	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Legionella shakespearei Verma et al. 1992	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Legionella sheltonii Sauerborn Klobucar et al. 2025	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Legionella spiritensis Brenner et al. 1985	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Legionella steelei Edelstein et al. 2012	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Legionella steigerwaltii Brenner et al. 1985	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Legionella stuttgartensis Rios Galicia et al. 2026	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Legionella taurinensis Lo Presti et al. 1999	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Legionella thermalis Ishizaki et al. 2016	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Legionella tucsonensis Thacker et al. 1990	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Legionella tunisiensis Campocasso et al. 2012	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Legionella wadsworthii Edelstein et al. 1983	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Legionella waltersii Benson et al. 1996	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Legionella worsleiensis Dennis et al. 1993	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Legionella yabuuchiae Kuroki et al. 2007	validly published under the ICNP	correct name

Parent taxon: Legionellaceae Brenner et al. 1979 (Approved Lists 1980)

Assigned by: Brenner DJ, Steigerwalt AG, McDade JE. Classification of the Legionnaires' disease bacterium: Legionella pneumophila, genus novum, species nova, of the family Legionellaceae, familia nova. Ann Intern Med 1979; 90:656-658.

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Record number: 515933