Name: Rhodococcus equi (Magnusson 1923) Goodfellow and Alderson 1977 (Approved Lists 1980)

Category: Species

Proposed as: comb. nov.

Basonym: Corynebacterium equi Magnusson 1923 (Approved Lists 1980)

Etymology: e’qui. L. gen. masc. n. equi, of a horse

Gender: masculine

Type strain: 25729; ATCC 25729; ATCC 6939; C 7; CCUG 892; CECT 555; CIP 54.72; DSM 20307; HAMBI 2061; IFO 14956; JCM 1311; JCM 3209; LMG 18452; NBRC 101255; NBRC 14956; NCTC 1621; NRRL B-16538; VKM Ac-953

Conduct genome-based taxonomy at

16S rRNA gene: AF490539 Analyse FASTA

Effective publication: Goodfellow M, Alderson G. The actinomycete-genus Rhodococcus: a home for the "rhodochrous" complex. J Gen Microbiol 1977; 100:99-122.

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

Risk group: 2

• Synonyms:

  • Name	Kind
    "Prescottia equi" (Magnusson 1923) Jones et al. 2013	homotypic synonym, not validly published
    "Proactinomyces restrictus" Turfitt 1944	heterotypic synonym, not validly published, basonym of name in Approved Lists
    Prescottella equi (Magnusson 1923) Sangal et al. 2022	homotypic synonym, validly published under the ICNP
    Corynebacterium equi Magnusson 1923 (Approved Lists 1980)	homotypic synonym, validly published under the ICNP
    "Prescottella equi" (Magnusson 1923) Jones et al. 2013	homotypic synonym, not validly published
    Nocardia restricta (Turfitt 1944) McClung 1974 (Approved Lists 1980)	heterotypic synonym, validly published under the ICNP

• 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:
    • Emendation accompanied by a proposal regarding the synonymy of the species.

• Notes:
  • According to Kaempfer et al. (2014), this species is a later heterotypic synonym of "Bacillus hoagii" Morse 1912 but this is in conflict with the rules of the International Code of Nomenclature of Prokaryotes. Publication: Kampfer P, Dott W, Martin K, Glaeser SP. Rhodococcus defluvii sp. nov., isolated from wastewater of a bioreactor and formal proposal to reclassify [Corynebacterium hoagii] and Rhodococcus equi as Rhodococcus hoagii comb. nov. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 2014; 64:755-761.
  • According to Kaempfer et al. (2014), this species is a later heterotypic synonym of Corynebacterium hoagii (Morse 1912) Eberson 1918 (Approved Lists 1980) but this is in conflict with the rules of the International Code of Nomenclature of Prokaryotes. Publication: Kampfer P, Dott W, Martin K, Glaeser SP. Rhodococcus defluvii sp. nov., isolated from wastewater of a bioreactor and formal proposal to reclassify [Corynebacterium hoagii] and Rhodococcus equi as Rhodococcus hoagii comb. nov. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 2014; 64:755-761.
  • According to Kaempfer et al. (2014), this species is a later heterotypic synonym of Rhodococcus hoagii (Morse 1912) Kämpfer et al. 2014 but this is in conflict with the rules of the International Code of Nomenclature of Prokaryotes. Publication: Kampfer P, Dott W, Martin K, Glaeser SP. Rhodococcus defluvii sp. nov., isolated from wastewater of a bioreactor and formal proposal to reclassify [Corynebacterium hoagii] and Rhodococcus equi as Rhodococcus hoagii comb. nov. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 2014; 64:755-761.
  • According to Nouioui et al. (2018), this species is a later heterotypic synonym of "Bacillus hoagii" Morse 1912 but this is in conflict with the rules of the International Code of Nomenclature of Prokaryotes. Publication: 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.
  • According to Nouioui et al. (2018), this species is a later heterotypic synonym of Corynebacterium hoagii (Morse 1912) Eberson 1918 (Approved Lists 1980) but this is in conflict with the rules of the International Code of Nomenclature of Prokaryotes. Publication: 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.
  • According to Nouioui et al. (2018), this species is a later heterotypic synonym of Rhodococcus hoagii (Morse 1912) Kämpfer et al. 2014 but this is in conflict with the rules of the International Code of Nomenclature of Prokaryotes. Publication: 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.
  • According to Rainey et al. (1995), this species is an earlier heterotypic synonym of "Proactinomyces restrictus" Turfitt 1944. Publication: Rainey FA, Burghardt J, Kroppenstedt R, Klatte S, Stackebrandt E. Polyphasic evidence for the transfer of Rhodococcus roseus to Rhodococcus rhodochrous. Int. J. Syst. Bacteriol. 1995; 45:101-103.
  • According to Rainey et al. (1995), this species is an earlier heterotypic synonym of Nocardia restricta (Turfitt 1944) McClung 1974 (Approved Lists 1980). Publication: Rainey FA, Burghardt J, Kroppenstedt R, Klatte S, Stackebrandt E. Polyphasic evidence for the transfer of Rhodococcus roseus to Rhodococcus rhodochrous. Int. J. Syst. Bacteriol. 1995; 45:101-103.
  • Synonymy of this taxon was mentioned in an IJSEM list. Publication: 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.
  • The phylogenomic assignment score of this taxon is 0.03057 (N = 7).
  • 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 2022; 168:0.
  • The confusing nomenclature of this species was discussed in detail by Tindall (2014). Publication: Tindall BJ. The correct name of the taxon that contains the type strain of Rhodococcus equi. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 2014; 64:302-308.
  • This name was subject to a Request for an Opinion. Publication: Vazquez-Boland JA, Scortti M, Meijer WG. Conservation of Rhodococcus equi (Magnusson 1923) Goodfellow and Alderson 1977 and rejection of Rhodococcus hoagii (Morse 1912) Kampfer et al. 2014. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 2020; 70:3572-3576.
  • This name was subject to a Request for an Opinion in 2014. Publication: Garrity GM. Conservation of Rhodococcus equi (Magnusson 1923) Goodfellow and Alderson 1977 and rejection of Corynebacterium hoagii (Morse 1912) Eberson 1918. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 2014; 64:311-312.
  • On the Approved Lists of Bacterial Names, this nomenclatural name is incorrectly cited as Rhodococcus equi (Magnusson 1923) Goodfellow and Alderson 1979 (sic) [1]. Publication: Hill LR, Skerman VBD, Sneath PHA. Corrigenda to the Approved Lists of Bacterial Names edited for the International Committee on Systematic Bacteriology. Int. J. Syst. Bacteriol. 1984; 34:508-511.
  • The type strain ATCC 25729 = NCTC 1621 of Rhodococcus equi (Magnusson 1923) Goodfellow and Alderson 1977 (Approved Lists 1980), is the same that the type strain ATCC 6939 = NCTC 1621 of Corynebacterium equi Magnusson 1923 (Approved Lists 1980). Therefore, Rhodococcus equi (Magnusson 1923) Goodfellow and Alderson 1979 (Approved Lists 1980) is a homotypic synonym of Corynebacterium equi Magnusson 1923 (Approved Lists 1980). — This corrigendum has been omitted from the Approved Lists of Bacterial Names (Amended Edition) [2]. Publication: Euzéby JP. Corrigenda to the Approved Lists of Bacterial Names and to the amended edition of the Approved Lists of Bacterial Names. Int. J. Syst. Bacteriol. 1997; 47:1271-1272.
  • The full TRBA 466 classification is: risk group = 2, note = "ht".

Parent taxon: Rhodococcus Zopf 1891 (Approved Lists 1980)

Assigned by: Goodfellow M, Alderson G. The actinomycete-genus Rhodococcus: a home for the "rhodochrous" complex. J Gen Microbiol 1977; 100:99-122.

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Record number: 780448