Name: Propionibacterium freudenreichii van Niel 1928 (Approved Lists 1980)

Category: Species

Proposed as: sp. nov.

Etymology: freu.den.reich’i.i. N.L. gen. masc. n. freudenreichii, of Freudenreich, named after Edouard von Freudenreich, the Swiss bacteriologist who first isolated this species

Gender: neuter

Type strain: ATCC 6207; CCUG 7433; CIP 103026; DSM 20271; HAMBI 274; IFO 12424; LMG 16412; NBRC 12424; NCTC 10470; NRRL B-3523

See detailed strain information at

Conduct genome-based taxonomy at

16S rRNA gene: X53217 Analyse FASTA

Effective publication: Van N. The propionic acid bacteria. Uitgeverszaak and Boissevain and Co., Haarlem, Holland, 1928.

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: 1

• Synonyms:

  • Name	Kind
    Propionibacterium freudenreichii subsp. shermanii (van Niel 1928) Holdeman and Moore 1970 (Approved Lists 1980)	heterotypic synonym, validly published under the ICNP, distinct rank
    "Propionibacterium shermanii" van Niel 1928	heterotypic synonym, not validly published, basonym of name in Approved Lists

• Emendations:
  • Nouioui et al. 2018 Nouioui I, Carro L, Garcia-Lopez M, Meier-Kolthoff JP, Woyke T, Kyrpides NC, Pukall R, Klenk HP, Goodfellow M, Goker M. Genome-Based Taxonomic Classification of the Phylum Actinobacteria. Front Microbiol 2018; 9:2007. Oren A, Garrity GM. List of changes in taxonomic opinion no. 29. Notification of changes in taxonomic opinion previously published outside the IJSEM. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 2019; 69:13-32.

• Notes:
  • 🥇 Nomenclatural type of the genus Propionibacterium Orla-Jensen 1909 (Approved Lists 1980). Publication: Orla-Jensen S. Die Hauptlinien des natürlichen Bakteriensystems. Zentralblatt fur Bakteriologie, Parasitenkunde, Infektionskrankheiten und Hygiene. Abteilung II 1909; 22:305-346.
  • ⏰ According to Scholz and Kilian (2016), this species is an earlier heterotypic synonym of "Propionibacterium shermanii" van Niel 1928. Publication: Scholz CF, Kilian M. The natural history of cutaneous propionibacteria, and reclassification of selected species within the genus Propionibacterium to the proposed novel genera Acidipropionibacterium gen. nov., Cutibacterium gen. nov. and Pseudopropionibacterium gen. nov. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 2016; 66:4422-4432.
  • 😷 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 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 412 times in PubMed until 2024-03-27.
  • 🙆 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 genus.

Subdivision:

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

• Child taxa:

  • Name	Nomenclatural status	Taxonomic status
    Propionibacterium freudenreichii subsp. freudenreichii (van Niel 1928) Moore and Holdeman 1970 (Approved Lists 1980)	validly published under the ICNP	synonym of its species
    Propionibacterium freudenreichii subsp. shermanii (van Niel 1928) Holdeman and Moore 1970 (Approved Lists 1980)	validly published under the ICNP	synonym

Parent taxon: Propionibacterium Orla-Jensen 1909 (Approved Lists 1980)

Assigned by: Van N. The propionic acid bacteria. Uitgeverszaak and Boissevain and Co., Haarlem, Holland, 1928.

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Record number: 784695