Name: Serratia proteamaculans (Paine and Stansfield 1919) Grimont et al. 1978 (Approved Lists 1980)

Category: Species

Proposed as: comb. nov.

Basonym: "Pseudomonas proteamaculans" Paine and Stansfield 1919

Etymology: pro.te.a.ma.cu.lans. N.L. fem. n. Protea, a plant generic name; L. v. maculo, to spot; N.L. fem. part. adj. proteamaculans, spotting Protea

Gender: feminine

Type strain: ATCC 19323; CCM 4736; CCUG 14510; CIP 103236; DSM 4543; ICMP 1724; NCPPB 245

See detailed strain information at

Conduct genome-based taxonomy at

16S rRNA gene: AJ233434 Analyse FASTA

Effective publication: Grimont PAD, Grimont F, Starr MP. Serratia proteamaculans (Paine and Stanfield) comb. nov., a senior subjective synonym of Serratia liquefaciens (Grimes and Hennerty) Bascomb et al. International Journal of Systematic Bacteriology 1978; 28:503-510.

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
    "Pseudomonas proteamaculans" Paine and Stansfield 1919	homotypic synonym, not validly published, basonym of name in Approved Lists
    "Erwinia proteamaculans" (Paine and Stansfield 1919) Dye 1966	homotypic synonym, not validly published

• Notes:
  • 😷 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 - plant pathogen - biological class of risk plant: 2". — The risk group for Canada has been imported on 2024-02-27. The full classification is: risk group = 2, note = "Animal classification RG: 1 - Security sensitive biological agent: No - Terrestrial animal pathogen under Canadian Food Inspection Agency authority: No - Containment level: Containment Level 2". — The risk group for Germany has been imported on 2023-10-29. The full classification is: risk group = 2, 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 146 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.
  • 🧍 Plant pathogenic according to Bull et al. (2007). Publication: Bull CT, De Boer SH, Denny TP, Firrao G, Fischer Le Saux M, Saddler GS, Scortichini M, Stead DE, Takikawa Y. Comprehensive list of names of plant pathogenic bacteria, 1980-2007. Journal of Plant Pathology 2010; 92:551-592.
  • 🧍 In the "Indexes of the Bacterial and Yeast Nomenclatural Changes", Moore and Moore [7, 8] write "Serratia liquefaciens (Grimes and Hennerty 1931) Bascomb et al. 1971 (AL) = Serratia proteamaculans (Paine and Stansfield 1919) Grimont et al. 1978 (AL)". However, Serratia liquefaciens and Serratia proteamaculans are distinct species. Publication: Holmes B. Proposal to conserve the specific epithet liquefaciens over the specific epithet proteamaculans in the name of the organism currently known as Serratia liquefaciens (Grimes and Hennerty 1931) Bascomb et al. 1971. Request for an Opinion. Int. J. Syst. Bacteriol. 1980; 30:220-222.

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: 3

• Child taxa:

  • Name	Nomenclatural status	Taxonomic status
    Serratia proteamaculans subsp. proteamaculans (Paine and Stansfield 1919) Grimont et al. 1983	validly published under the ICNP	synonym of its species
    Serratia proteamaculans subsp. quinivorans corrig. Grimont et al. 1983	validly published under the ICNP	synonym
    Serratia proteamaculans subsp. quinovora Grimont et al. 1983	inaccurate spelling	misspelling

Parent taxon: Serratia Bizio 1823 (Approved Lists 1980)

Assigned by: Grimont PAD, Grimont F, Starr MP. Serratia proteamaculans (Paine and Stanfield) comb. nov., a senior subjective synonym of Serratia liquefaciens (Grimes and Hennerty) Bascomb et al. International Journal of Systematic Bacteriology 1978; 28:503-510.

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Record number: 780883