Name: Xenorhabdus Thomas and Poinar 1979 (Approved Lists 1980)

Category: Genus

Proposed as: gen. nov.

Etymology: Xe.no.rhab’dus. Gr. masc. n. xenos, foreign, strange, unusual (less literally, pathogenic); Gr. fem. n. rhabdos, rod; N.L. fem. n. Xenorhabdus, pathogenic rod-shaped bacterium

Gender, pronunciation: feminine (stem: Xenorhabd-), kse-no-R^HAB-dus

Type species: Xenorhabdus nematophila corrig. (Poinar and Thomas 1965) Thomas and Poinar 1979 (Approved Lists 1980)

Conduct genome-based taxonomy of genus at TYGS

16S rRNA gene: Analyse FASTA

Effective publication: Thomas GM, Poinar Jr. GO. Xenorhabdus gen. nov., a genus of entomopathogenic nematophilic bacteria of the family Enterobacteriaceae. International Journal of Systematic Bacteriology 1979; 29:352-360.

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: 1

• Emendations:
  • Akhurst 1983 Akhurst RJ. Taxonomic study of Xenorhabdus, a genus of bacteria symbiotically associated with insect pathogenic nematodes. Int. J. Syst. Bacteriol. 1983; 33:38-45. 🇦🇺
  • Thomas and Poinar 1983 Thomas GM, Poinar GO. Amended description of the genus Xenorhabdus Thomas and Poinar. Int. J. Syst. Bacteriol. 1983; 33:878-879.

• Notes:
  • 🧕 Boone et al. (2001) assigned this genus to the family Enterobacteriaceae Rahn 1937 (Approved Lists 1980). Publication: Garrity GM, Holt JG. The Road Map to the Manual. In: Boone DR, Castenholz RW, Garrity GM (eds), Bergey's Manual of Systematic Bacteriology, second edition, vol. 1 (The Archaea and the deeply branching and phototrophic Bacteria), Springer-Verlag, New York, 2001, p. 119-166. 🇺🇸
  • 🚋 The type species of this genus has alternatively been placed in the genus "Achromobacter" Bergey et al. 1923. Publication: Poinar Jr. GO, Thomas GM. A new bacterium, Achromobacter nematophilus sp. nov. (Achromobacteriaceae: Eubacteriales) associated with a nematode. International Bulletin of Bacteriological Nomenclature and Taxonomy 1965; 15:249-252.
  • 🙄 This taxon name is occasionally misprinted (or affected by an OCR error) in some sources as: "Xemrhabdus"; "Xenohabdus"; "Xenorbabdus"; "Xenorhabadus"; "Xenorhabus"; "Xenorhadbus"; "Xenorhahdus"; "Xenorhalxius"; "Xenorhubdus"; "Xhenorhabdus".
  • 💁 Taxonomists who have recently focused on this group are the corresponding authors of Tailliez et al. (2012), Akhurst and Boemare (1988), Machado et al. (2019), Fischer-Le Saux et al. (1999), Machado et al. (2023). 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 phylogenomic assignment score of this taxon is 0.01331 (N = 7).
  • 🎰 The BRCs most frequently used for deposits in this group are: DSM: 31; CIP: 14; CCM: 9; CCOS: 7; ATCC: 7; LMG: 4; NCIMB: 4; UQM: 3; CCUG: 2; JCM: 2.
  • 😷 The risk group for Canada has been imported on 2024-02-27. The full classification is: risk group = 1, note = "Animal classification RG: 1 - Security sensitive biological agent: No - Terrestrial animal pathogen under Canadian Food Inspection Agency authority: No - Containment level: Containment Level 1". — 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 "XERB" 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.
  • 🧍 The Greek word rhabdos is in the feminine gender. So, according to Rule 65 (2), the generic name Xenorhabdus is in the feminine gender. Publication: Euzeby JP, Boemare NE. The modern Latin word rhabdus belongs to the feminine gender, inducing necessary corrections according to Rules 65(2), 12c(1) and 13b of the Bacteriological Code (1990 Revision). Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 2000; 50:1691-1692. 🇫🇷

Subdivision:

Number of child taxa with a validly published and correct name: 29
Number of child taxa with a validly published name, including synonyms: 30
Total number of child taxa: 39

• Child taxa:

  • Name	Nomenclatural status	Taxonomic status
    Xenorhabdus aichiensis Machado et al. 2024	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    "Xenorhabdus anantnagensis" Machado et al. 2023	not validly published	preferred name
    Xenorhabdus beddingii (Akhurst 1986) Akhurst and Boemare 1993	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    "Xenorhabdus bharatensis" Thanwisai et al. 2025	not validly published	preferred name
    Xenorhabdus bovienii (Akhurst 1983) Akhurst and Boemare 1993	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Xenorhabdus budapestensis Lengyel et al. 2005	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Xenorhabdus cabanillasii Tailliez et al. 2006	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Xenorhabdus doucetiae Tailliez et al. 2006	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Xenorhabdus eapokensis Kämpfer et al. 2017	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Xenorhabdus ehlersii Lengyel et al. 2005	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    "Xenorhabdus entomophaga" Thanwisai et al. 2025	not validly published	preferred name
    Xenorhabdus griffiniae Tailliez et al. 2006	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Xenorhabdus hominickii Tailliez et al. 2006	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Xenorhabdus indica Somvanshi et al. 2009	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Xenorhabdus innexi Lengyel et al. 2005	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Xenorhabdus ishibashii Kuwata et al. 2013	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Xenorhabdus japonica corrig. Nishimura et al. 1995	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Xenorhabdus japonicus Nishimura et al. 1995	inaccurate spelling	misspelling
    Xenorhabdus khoisanae Ferreira et al. 2013	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Xenorhabdus koppenhoeferi Tailliez et al. 2006	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Xenorhabdus kozodoii Tailliez et al. 2006	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Xenorhabdus lircayensis Castaneda-Alvarez et al. 2021	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    "Xenorhabdus littoralis" Palma et al. 2024	not validly published	preferred name
    Xenorhabdus luminescens Thomas and Poinar 1979 (Approved Lists 1980)	validly published under the ICNP	synonym
    Xenorhabdus magdalenensis Tailliez et al. 2012	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Xenorhabdus mauleonii Tailliez et al. 2006	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Xenorhabdus miraniensis Tailliez et al. 2006	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Xenorhabdus nematophila corrig. (Poinar and Thomas 1965) Thomas and Poinar 1979 (Approved Lists 1980)	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Xenorhabdus nematophilus (Poinar and Thomas 1965) Thomas and Poinar 1979 (Approved Lists 1980)	inaccurate spelling	misspelling
    Xenorhabdus poinarii (Akhurst 1983) Akhurst and Boemare 1993	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Xenorhabdus romanii Tailliez et al. 2006	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    "Xenorhabdus santafensis" Palma et al. 2024	not validly published	preferred name
    "Xenorhabdus siamensis" Thanwisai et al. 2025	not validly published	preferred name
    Xenorhabdus stockiae Tailliez et al. 2006	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Xenorhabdus szentirmaii Lengyel et al. 2005	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    "Xenorhabdus thailandensis" Thanwisai et al. 2025	not validly published	preferred name
    Xenorhabdus thuongxuanensis Kämpfer et al. 2017	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Xenorhabdus vietnamensis Tailliez et al. 2010	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Xenorhabdus yunnanensis Machado et al. 2024	validly published under the ICNP	correct name

Parent taxon: Morganellaceae Adeolu et al. 2016

Assigned by: Adeolu M, Alnajar S, Naushad S, S Gupta R. Genome-based phylogeny and taxonomy of the 'Enterobacteriales': proposal for Enterobacterales ord. nov. divided into the families Enterobacteriaceae, Erwiniaceae fam. nov., Pectobacteriaceae fam. nov., Yersiniaceae fam. nov., Hafniaceae fam. nov., Morganellaceae fam. nov., and Budviciaceae fam. nov. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 2016; 66:5575-5599. 🇨🇦

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Record number: 516934