Species Photorhabdus luminescens

Name: Photorhabdus luminescens (Thomas and Poinar 1979) Boemare et al. 1993

Category, proposed as: species, comb. nov.

Basonym: Xenorhabdus luminescens Thomas and Poinar 1979 (Approved Lists 1980)

Etymology: lu.mi.nes’cens. N.L. fem. part. adj. luminescens, luminescing, for its bioluminescence

Pronunciation (Latin), gender: p^ho-to-R^HAB-dus lu-mi-NES-kens, feminine

Type strain: ATCC 29999; CIP 106429; DSM 3368; Hb

See detailed strain information at

Conduct genome-based taxonomy at

16S rRNA gene: X82248 Analyse FASTA

Valid publication: Boemare NE, Akhurst RJ, Mourant RG. DNA relatedness between Xenorhabdus spp. (Enterobacteriaceae), symbiotic bacteria of entomopathogenic nematodes, and a proposal to transfer Xenorhabdus luminescens to a new genus, Photorhabdus gen. nov. Int. J. Syst. Bacteriol. 1993; 43:249-255. 🇫🇷

IJSEM list: Anonymous. Notification list. Notification that new names and new combinations have appeared in volume 43, part 2 of the IJSB. Int J Syst Bacteriol 1993; 43:625.

Nomenclatural status: validly published under the ICNP

Taxonomic status: correct name (and explicitly recommended for medical use)

Risk group: 2

• Synonyms:

  • Name	Kind
    Xenorhabdus luminescens Thomas and Poinar 1979 (Approved Lists 1980)	homotypic synonym, validly published under the ICNP

• Emendations:
  • Fischer-Le Saux et al. 1999 Fischer-Le Saux M, Viallard V, Brunel B, Normand P, Boemare NE. Polyphasic classification of the genus Photorhabdus and proposal of new taxa: P. luminescens subsp. luminescens subsp. nov., P. luminescens subsp. akhurstii subsp. nov., P. luminescens subsp. laumondii subsp. nov., P. temperata sp. nov., P. temperata subsp. temperata subsp. nov. and P. asymbiotica sp. nov. Int J Syst Bacteriol 1999; 49:1645-1656. 🇫🇷 Anonymous. Notification list. Notification that new names and new combinations have appeared in volume 49, part 4 of the IJSB. Int J Syst Bacteriol 2000; 50:5-7.
  • Machado et al. 2018 Machado RAR, Wuthrich D, Kuhnert P, Arce CCM, Thonen L, Ruiz C, Zhang X, Robert CAM, Karimi J, Kamali S, et al. Whole-genome-based revisit of Photorhabdus phylogeny: proposal for the elevation of most Photorhabdus subspecies to the species level and description of one novel species Photorhabdus bodei sp. nov., and one novel subspecies Photorhabdus laumondii subsp. clarkei subsp. nov. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 2018; 68:2664-2681. 🇨🇭 Oren A, Garrity GM. Notification list. Notification that new names and new combinations have appeared in volume 68, part 8 of the IJSEM. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 2018; 68:3394-3396.
  • Machado et al. 2019 Machado RAR, Bruno P, Arce CCM, Liechti N, Kohler A, Bernal J, Bruggmann R, Turlings TCJ. Photorhabdus khanii subsp. guanajuatensis subsp. nov., isolated from Heterorhabditis atacamensis, and Photorhabdus luminescens subsp. mexicana subsp. nov., isolated from Heterorhabditis mexicana entomopathogenic nematodes. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 2019; 69:652-661. 🇨🇭 Oren A, Garrity GM. Notification list. Notification that new names and new combinations have appeared in volume 69, part 3 of the IJSEM. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 2019; 69:1529-1530.
  • Machado et al. 2023 Machado RAR, Bhat AH, Castaneda-Alvarez C, Puza V, San-Blas E. Photorhabdus aballayi sp. nov. and Photorhabdus luminescens subsp. venezuelensis subsp. nov., isolated from Heterorhabditis amazonensis entomopathogenic nematodes. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 2023; 73:5872. 🇨🇭 Oren A, Göker M. Notification list. Notification that new names and new combinations have appeared in volume 73, part 5 of the IJSEM. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 2023; 73:5996.

• Notes:
  • 🥇 Nomenclatural type of the genus Photorhabdus Boemare et al. 1993. Publication: Boemare NE, Akhurst RJ, Mourant RG. DNA relatedness between Xenorhabdus spp. (Enterobacteriaceae), symbiotic bacteria of entomopathogenic nematodes, and a proposal to transfer Xenorhabdus luminescens to a new genus, Photorhabdus gen. nov. Int. J. Syst. Bacteriol. 1993; 43:249-255. 🇫🇷
  • 😷 The risk group for Belgium has been imported on 2024-02-05. The full classification is: risk group = 2, note = "human and animal pathogen - biological class of risk animal: 2". — The risk group for Canada has been imported on 2024-02-27. The full classification is: risk group = 1, 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 2026-08-13. The full classification is: risk group = 1, note = "n". — 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 591 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.
  • 🧍 In the paper by Boemare et al. 1993, Photorhabdus luminescens is cited as Photorhabdus luminescens (Poinar and Thomas 1979) (sic) Boemare et al. 1993. Publication: Euzeby JP. List of Bacterial Names with Standing in Nomenclature: a folder available on the Internet. Int J Syst Bacteriol 1997; 47:590-592. 🇫🇷

Subdivision:

Number of child taxa with a validly published and correct name: 3
Number of child taxa with a validly published name, including synonyms: 13
Total number of child taxa: 14

• Child taxa:

  • Name	Nomenclatural status	Taxonomic status
    Photorhabdus luminescens subsp. akhurstii Fischer-Le Saux et al. 1999	validly published under the ICNP	synonym
    Photorhabdus luminescens subsp. caribbeanensis Tailliez et al. 2010	validly published under the ICNP	synonym
    Photorhabdus luminescens subsp. hainanensis Tailliez et al. 2010	validly published under the ICNP	synonym
    Photorhabdus luminescens subsp. kayaii Hazir et al. 2004	validly published under the ICNP	synonym
    Photorhabdus luminescens subsp. kleinii An and Grewal 2011	validly published under the ICNP	synonym
    Photorhabdus luminescens subsp. laumondii Fischer-Le Saux et al. 1999	validly published under the ICNP	synonym
    Photorhabdus luminescens subsp. luminescens (Thomas and Poinar 1979) Fischer-Le Saux et al. 1999	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Photorhabdus luminescens subsp. luminescens (Thomas and Poinar 1979) Machado et al. 2019	validly published under the ICNP, illegitimate name	synonym
    Photorhabdus luminescens subsp. mexicana Machado et al. 2019	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Photorhabdus luminescens subsp. namnaonensis Glaeser et al. 2017	validly published under the ICNP	synonym
    Photorhabdus luminescens subsp. noenieputensis Ferreira et al. 2013	validly published under the ICNP	synonym
    "Photorhabdus luminescens subsp. sonorensis" Orozco et al. 2013	not validly published	preferred name
    Photorhabdus luminescens subsp. thracensis Hazir et al. 2004	validly published under the ICNP	synonym
    Photorhabdus luminescens subsp. venezuelensis Machado et al. 2023	validly published under the ICNP	correct name

Parent taxon: Photorhabdus Boemare et al. 1993

Assigned by: Boemare NE, Akhurst RJ, Mourant RG. DNA relatedness between Xenorhabdus spp. (Enterobacteriaceae), symbiotic bacteria of entomopathogenic nematodes, and a proposal to transfer Xenorhabdus luminescens to a new genus, Photorhabdus gen. nov. Int. J. Syst. Bacteriol. 1993; 43:249-255. 🇫🇷

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Record number: 779539

• Previous versions:

  • Version	Date	JSON
    1	2026-03-31