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Species Nocardia globerula
Name: Nocardia globerula (Gray 1928) Waksman and Henrici 1948 (Approved Lists 1980)
Basonym: "Mycobacterium globerulum" Gray 1928
Etymology: glo.be.ru.la. N.L. fem. adj. globerula, globular
Type strain: ATCC 19370; DSM 44596; JCM 7475
Conduct genome-based taxonomy at
16S rRNA gene:
FR749915
Analyse
FASTA
Effective publication: Waksman SA, Henrici AT. Family II. Actinomycetaceae. In: Breed RS, Murray EGD, Hitchens AP (eds), Bergey's Manual of Determinative Bacteriology, 6th ed., The Williams & Wilkins Co, Baltimore, 1948, p. 892-928.
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: synonym (and not recommended for medical use)
Correct name: Rhodococcus globerulus Goodfellow et al. 1985
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Synonyms:
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Name Kind "Mycobacterium globerulum" Gray 1928 homotypic synonym, not validly published, basonym of name in Approved Lists Rhodococcus globerulus Goodfellow et al. 1985 heterotypic synonym, validly published under the ICNP
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Notes:
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⏲ According to Jones and Goodfellow (2015), this species is a later heterotypic synonym of Rhodococcus globerulus Goodfellow et al. 1985.
Publication:
Jones AL, Goodfellow M. Rhodococcus. In: Trujillo ME, Dedysh S, DeVos P, Hedlund B, Kämpfer P, Rainey FA, Whitman WB (eds), Bergey's Manual of Systematics of Archaea and Bacteria., John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Unknown City, 2015, p. 1-50. 🇬🇧
- ❗ Nocardia globerula is the correct name instead if this species is regarded as a separate species (i.e., if its nomenclatural type is not assigned to another species whose name is validly published, legitimate and not rejected and has priority) within a separate genus Nocardia.
- 😷 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 = 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 24 times in PubMed until 2025-06-04.
- 🙅 This name is on the List of Recommended Names for bacteria of medical importance (LoRN) as a synonym of the name to be applied to this species. The name is on LoRN because of the recorded risk group of the genus.
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🧍 According to Ludwig et al. (2021), this "species affiliates away from Nocardia and may be reclassified as Rhodococcus".
Publication:
Ludwig W, Viver T, Westram R, Francisco Gago J, Bustos-Caparros E, Knittel K, Amann R, Rossello-Mora R. Release LTP_12_2020, featuring a new ARB alignment and improved 16S rRNA tree for prokaryotic type strains. Syst Appl Microbiol 2021; 44:126218.
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🧍 Yarza et al. (2013) expected for 16S rRNA gene sequence accession FR749915, originating from the type-strain deposit DSM 44596, an affiliation with Nocardia (Nocardiaceae) but observed an affiliation with Rhodococcus (Nocardiaceae) and 99.9% similarity against Rhodococcus globerulus.
Publication:
Yarza P, Sproer C, Swiderski J, Mrotzek N, Spring S, Tindall BJ, Gronow S, Pukall R, Klenk HP, Lang E, et al. Sequencing orphan species initiative (SOS): Filling the gaps in the 16S rRNA gene sequence database for all species with validly published names. Syst Appl Microbiol 2013; 36:69-73. 🇩🇪
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🧍 Since the 16S rRNA gene sequence of the type strain shows an unexpected affiliation with the genus Rhodococcus (99.9% similarity to Rhodococcus globerulus) and since the two species names are treated as synonyms in the literature, the question arises as to the priority of the species epithets. These two epithets happen to be identical, although the two names are heterotypic synonyms. The epithet of Nocardia globerula (Gray 1928) Waksman and Henrici 1948 (Approved Lists 1980) would take precedence over that of Rhodococcus globerulus Goodfellow et al. 1985. However, since the epithet globerulus exists in a validly published and legitimate species name in Rhodococcus, a nomen novum would have to be created when transferring Nocardia globerula to Rhodococcus and thus a new epithet, e.g. neogloberulus, would have to be created. This new epithet would not have priority over globerulus in Rhodococcus globerulus Goodfellow et al. 1985. If Rhodococcus globerulus Goodfellow et al. 1985 and our R. neogloberulus are considered heterotypic synonyms, then the correct name is Rhodococcus globerulus Goodfellow et al. 1985. So the nomen novum would have no effect. It would be superfluous. This means that the name should not be created as long as the two names are considered to be synonymous at the species level.
Publication:
Yarza P, Sproer C, Swiderski J, Mrotzek N, Spring S, Tindall BJ, Gronow S, Pukall R, Klenk HP, Lang E, et al. Sequencing orphan species initiative (SOS): Filling the gaps in the 16S rRNA gene sequence database for all species with validly published names. Syst Appl Microbiol 2013; 36:69-73. 🇩🇪
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⏲ According to Jones and Goodfellow (2015), this species is a later heterotypic synonym of Rhodococcus globerulus Goodfellow et al. 1985.
Publication:
Jones AL, Goodfellow M. Rhodococcus. In: Trujillo ME, Dedysh S, DeVos P, Hedlund B, Kämpfer P, Rainey FA, Whitman WB (eds), Bergey's Manual of Systematics of Archaea and Bacteria., John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Unknown City, 2015, p. 1-50.
Parent taxon: Nocardia Trevisan 1889 (Approved Lists 1980)
Assigned by: Waksman SA, Henrici AT. Family II. Actinomycetaceae. In: Breed RS, Murray EGD, Hitchens AP (eds), Bergey's Manual of Determinative Bacteriology, 6th ed., The Williams & Wilkins Co, Baltimore, 1948, p. 892-928.
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Record number: 778726
This LPSN page was printed on 2026-01-15 03:24:28