Name: Listeria grayi Errebo Larsen and Seeliger 1966 (Approved Lists 1980)

Category: Species

Proposed as: sp. nov.

Etymology: gray’i. N.L. gen. masc. n. grayi, of Gray, named in honor of M.L. Gray, an American bacteriologist

Pronunciation, gender: … GRAY-i, feminine

Type strain: ATCC 19120; CCUG 4983; CCUG 5118; CIP 105447; CIP 68.18; DSM 20601; LMG 16490; NCAIM B.01871; NCTC 10815

Conduct genome-based taxonomy at

16S rRNA gene: X56150 Analyse FASTA

Effective publication: Errebo Larsen H, Seeliger HPR. A mannitol fermenting Listeria, Listeria grayi sp. n. Proceedings of the Third International Symposium on Listeriosis July 13-16, Bilthoven, 1966. Rijks Instituut voor de Volksgezondheit, Utrecht, 1966.

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
    "Murraya grayi" (Errebo Larsen and Seeliger 1966) Bouznada et al. 2025	homotypic synonym, not validly published
    "Murraya grayi" (Errebo Larsen and Seeliger 1966) Stuart and Welshimer 1971	homotypic synonym, not validly published

• Emendations:
  • Rocourt et al. 1992 Rocourt J, Boerlin P, Grimont F, Jacquet C, Piffaretti JC. Assignment of Listeria grayi and Listeria murrayi to a single species, Listeria grayi, with a revised description of Listeria grayi. Int J Syst Bacteriol 1992; 42:171-174.
    Notes:
    • 🫂 Emendation accompanied by a proposal regarding the synonymy of the species.
    • 🧍 This emendation was not found in the expected IJSEM notification list.

• Notes:
  • ⏰ According to Rocourt et al. (1992), this species is an earlier heterotypic synonym of Listeria murrayi Welshimer and Meredith 1971 (Approved Lists 1980). Publication: Rocourt J, Boerlin P, Grimont F, Jacquet C, Piffaretti JC. Assignment of Listeria grayi and Listeria murrayi to a single species, Listeria grayi, with a revised description of Listeria grayi. Int J Syst Bacteriol 1992; 42:171-174.
  • ⏰ According to Rocourt et al. (1992), this species is an earlier heterotypic synonym of "Murraya murrayi" (Welshimer and Meredith 1971) Bouznada et al. 2025. Publication: Rocourt J, Boerlin P, Grimont F, Jacquet C, Piffaretti JC. Assignment of Listeria grayi and Listeria murrayi to a single species, Listeria grayi, with a revised description of Listeria grayi. Int J Syst Bacteriol 1992; 42:171-174.
  • ⏰ According to Sallen et al. (1996), this species is not an earlier heterotypic synonym of Listeria murrayi Welshimer and Meredith 1971 (Approved Lists 1980). Publication: Sallen B, Rajoharison A, Desvarenne S, Quinn F, Mabilat C. Comparative analysis of 16S and 23S rRNA sequences of Listeria species. Int J Syst Bacteriol 1996; 46:669-674.
  • ⏰ According to Sallen et al. (1996), this species is not an earlier heterotypic synonym of "Murraya murrayi" (Welshimer and Meredith 1971) Bouznada et al. 2025. Publication: Sallen B, Rajoharison A, Desvarenne S, Quinn F, Mabilat C. Comparative analysis of 16S and 23S rRNA sequences of Listeria species. Int J Syst Bacteriol 1996; 46:669-674.
  • 🧬 The phylogenomic assignment score of this taxon is 0.11899 (N = 1).
  • 😷 The risk group for Canada has been imported on 2024-02-27. The full classification is: risk group = 2, note = "Security sensitive biological agent: No - Terrestrial animal pathogen under Canadian Food Inspection Agency authority: No". — The risk group for Swiss Confederation has been imported on 2024-02-01. The full classification is: risk group = 1. — 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 82 times in PubMed until 2025-06-04.
  • 🙆 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. 🇬🇧

Subdivision:

Number of child taxa with a validly published and correct name: 0
Number of child taxa with a validly published name, including synonyms: 0
Total number of child taxa: 2

• Child taxa:

  • Name	Nomenclatural status	Taxonomic status
    "Listeria grayi subsp. grayi" (Errebo Larsen and Seeliger 1966) Sallen et al. 1996	not validly published	synonym of its species
    "Listeria grayi subsp. murrayi" (Welshimer and Meredith 1971) Sallen et al. 1996	not validly published	synonym

Parent taxon: Listeria Pirie 1940 (Approved Lists 1980)

Assigned by: Errebo Larsen H, Seeliger HPR. A mannitol fermenting Listeria, Listeria grayi sp. n. Proceedings of the Third International Symposium on Listeriosis July 13-16, Bilthoven, 1966. Rijks Instituut voor de Volksgezondheit, Utrecht, 1966.

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Record number: 777586