Name: Agrobacterium tumefaciens (Smith and Townsend 1907) Conn 1942 (Approved Lists 1980)

Category: Species

Proposed as: comb. nov.

Basonym: "Bacterium tumefaciens" Smith and Townsend 1907

Etymology: tu.me.fa’ci.ens. L. v. tumefacio, to cause to swell, to tumefy; L. neut. part. adj. tumefaciens, causing to swell, tumor producing

Pronunciation (Latin), gender: a-gro-bak-TE-ri-um tu-me-FA-ki-ens, neuter

Type strain: A1; ATCC 4720; CCM 1000; CFBP 2412; CIP 104335; DSM 30150; ICMP 5793; LMG 182; NCIB 8150; NCIMB 8150; NCPPB 2992

Conduct genome-based taxonomy at

16S rRNA gene: MT534522 Analyse FASTA

Effective publication: Conn HJ. Validity of the Genus Alcaligenes. J Bacteriol 1942; 44:353-360.

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 (and explicitly recommended for medical use)

Risk group: 2

• Synonyms:

  • Name	Kind
    "Bacterium tumefaciens" Smith and Townsend 1907	homotypic synonym, not validly published, basonym of name in Approved Lists

• Emendations:
  • Hördt et al. 2020 Hordt A, Lopez MG, Meier-Kolthoff JP, Schleuning M, Weinhold LM, Tindall BJ, Gronow S, Kyrpides NC, Woyke T, Goker M. Analysis of 1,000+ Type-Strain Genomes Substantially Improves Taxonomic Classification of Alphaproteobacteria. Front Microbiol 2020; 11:468. 🇩🇪 Oren A, Garrity GM. List of changes in taxonomic opinion no. 32. Notification of changes in taxonomic opinion previously published outside the IJSEM. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 2020; 70:4061-4090.

• Notes:
  • 🥇 Nomenclatural type of the genus Agrobacterium Conn 1942 (Approved Lists 1980). Publication: Conn HJ. Validity of the Genus Alcaligenes. J Bacteriol 1942; 44:353-360.
  • ⏲ According to Sawada et al. (1993), this species is a later heterotypic synonym of "Bacillus radiobacter" Beijerinck and van Delden 1902. Publication: Sawada H, Ieki H, Oyaizu H, Matsumoto S. Proposal for rejection of Agrobacterium tumefaciens and revised descriptions for the genus Agrobacterium and for Agrobacterium radiobacter and Agrobacterium rhizogenes. Int J Syst Bacteriol 1993; 43:694-702. 🇯🇵
  • ⏲ According to Sawada et al. (1993), this species is a later heterotypic synonym of Agrobacterium radiobacter (Beijerinck and van Delden 1902) Conn 1942 (Approved Lists 1980). Publication: Sawada H, Ieki H, Oyaizu H, Matsumoto S. Proposal for rejection of Agrobacterium tumefaciens and revised descriptions for the genus Agrobacterium and for Agrobacterium radiobacter and Agrobacterium rhizogenes. Int J Syst Bacteriol 1993; 43:694-702. 🇯🇵
  • ⏲ According to Sawada et al. (1993), this species is a later heterotypic synonym of Rhizobium radiobacter (Beijerinck and van Delden 1902) Young et al. 2001. Publication: Sawada H, Ieki H, Oyaizu H, Matsumoto S. Proposal for rejection of Agrobacterium tumefaciens and revised descriptions for the genus Agrobacterium and for Agrobacterium radiobacter and Agrobacterium rhizogenes. Int J Syst Bacteriol 1993; 43:694-702. 🇯🇵
  • ⏲ According to Velazquez et al. (2020), this species is not a later heterotypic synonym of "Bacillus radiobacter" Beijerinck and van Delden 1902. Publication: Velazquez E, Flores-Felix JD, Sanchez-Juanes F, Igual JM, Peix A. Strain ATCC 4720^T is the authentic type strain of Agrobacterium tumefaciens, which is not a later heterotypic synonym of Agrobacterium radiobacter. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 2020; 70:5172-5176. 🇪🇸
  • ⏲ According to Velazquez et al. (2020), this species is not a later heterotypic synonym of Agrobacterium radiobacter (Beijerinck and van Delden 1902) Conn 1942 (Approved Lists 1980). Publication: Velazquez E, Flores-Felix JD, Sanchez-Juanes F, Igual JM, Peix A. Strain ATCC 4720^T is the authentic type strain of Agrobacterium tumefaciens, which is not a later heterotypic synonym of Agrobacterium radiobacter. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 2020; 70:5172-5176. 🇪🇸
  • ⏲ According to Velazquez et al. (2020), this species is not a later heterotypic synonym of Rhizobium radiobacter (Beijerinck and van Delden 1902) Young et al. 2001. Publication: Velazquez E, Flores-Felix JD, Sanchez-Juanes F, Igual JM, Peix A. Strain ATCC 4720^T is the authentic type strain of Agrobacterium tumefaciens, which is not a later heterotypic synonym of Agrobacterium radiobacter. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 2020; 70:5172-5176. 🇪🇸
  • 😷 The risk group for Belgium has been imported on 2024-02-01. The full classification is: risk group = 1, note = "default: 1 plant pathogen - biological class of risk plant: 2; genomovar G11: 1 plant pathogen - biological class of risk plant: 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". — The risk group for Swiss Confederation has been imported on 2024-02-01. The full classification is: risk group = 2, note = "default: 2 PIIC PP; non-pathogenic laboratory strains: 1 PIIC PP". — The risk group for Germany has been imported on 2023-10-29. The full classification is: risk group = 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.
  • 🎓 Name mentioned 6525 times in PubMed until 2026-06-11.
  • 🙆 This name is on the List of Recommended Names for bacteria of medical importance (LoRN) as the name to be applied to this species. The name is on LoRN because of the recorded risk group of the species itself.
  • 🧍 According to Bartlett et al. (2022), this species is an established human pathogen. Publication: Bartlett A, Padfield D, Lear L, Bendall R, Vos M. A comprehensive list of bacterial pathogens infecting humans. Microbiology (Reading) 2022; 168:0. 🇬🇧
  • 🧍 Plant pathogenic according to Bull et al. (2007). Publication: Bull CT, De Boer SH, Denny TP, Firrao G, Fischer Le Saux M, Saddler GS, Scortichini M, Stead DE, Takikawa Y. Comprehensive list of names of plant pathogenic bacteria, 1980-2007. Journal of Plant Pathology 2010; 92:551-592. 🇺🇸
  • 🧍 This name was subject to a Request for an Opinion. Publication: Velazquez E, Flores-Felix JD, Sanchez-Juanes F, Igual JM, Peix A. Strain ATCC 4720^T is the authentic type strain of Agrobacterium tumefaciens, which is not a later heterotypic synonym of Agrobacterium radiobacter. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 2020; 70:5172-5176. 🇪🇸
  • 🧍 Request for an Opinion concerning the type species of the genus Agrobacterium (IJSB 44:373); decision: A. tumefaciens is the type species (IJSB 45:196); Young et al. (2006) propose in a Request for an Opinion that Agrobacterium radiobacter has priority as the earlier heterotypic (subjective) synonym when it is united with Agrobacterium tumefaciens.The Judicial Commission affirmed the priority of Agrobacterium radiobacter (Opinion 94, Judicial Commission of the International Committee on Systematics of Prokaryotes, IJSEM 64:3590-3592). Publication: Judicial Commission. Judicial Opinion No. 94. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 2014; 64:3590-3592.
  • 🧍 Sawada et al. 1993 proposed that the name Agrobacterium tumefaciens (Smith and Townsend 1907) Conn 1942 (Approved Lists 1980) should be rejected because it is a later synonym of Agrobacterium radiobacter (Beijerinck and van Delden 1902) Conn 1942 (Approved Lists 1980). In a letter to the editor (Request for a Judicial Opinion concerning the type species of Agrobacterium. Int. J. Syst. Bacteriol., 1994, 44, 373-374 Original article in IJSEM Online) Bouzar reviewed the situation, noting that all prior comission actions had the effect of conserving Agrobacterium tumefaciens (Smith and Townsend 1907) Conn 1942 (Approved Lists 1980) as the type species of the genus Agrobacterium Conn 1942 (Approved Lists 1980). That is, all requests remained provisional. The comission accepted Bouzar's position that Agrobacterium tumefaciens (Smith and Townsend 1907) Conn 1942 (Approved Lists 1980) is still the type species. Publication: Conn HJ. Validity of the Genus Alcaligenes. J Bacteriol 1942; 44:353-360.

Parent taxon: Agrobacterium Conn 1942 (Approved Lists 1980)

Assigned by: Conn HJ. Validity of the Genus Alcaligenes. J Bacteriol 1942; 44:353-360.

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Record number: 772963