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Species Streptococcus thermophilus
Name: Streptococcus thermophilus Orla-Jensen 1919 (Approved Lists 1980)
Etymology: ther.mo’phi.lus. Gr. fem. adj. thermê, hot; N.L. adj. philus -a -um, friend, loving; from Gr. adj. philos -ê -on, loving; N.L. masc. adj. thermophilus, heat-loving
Pronunciation, gender: ther-MO-phi-lus, masculine
Type strain: ATCC 19258; CCUG 21957; CIP 102303; DSM 20617; LMG 6896; NBIMCC 3916; NCDO 573; NCFB 573; NCIB 8510; NCIMB 8510
See detailed strain information at
Conduct genome-based taxonomy at
16S rRNA gene:
X68418
Analyse
FASTA
Effective publication: Orla-Jensen S. The lactic acid bacteria. Høst, Copenhagen, 1919.
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)
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Synonyms:
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Name Kind Streptococcus salivarius subsp. thermophilus (Orla-Jensen 1919) Farrow and Collins 1984 homotypic synonym, validly published under the ICNP, distinct rank
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Notes:
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⏲ According to Tang et al. (2025), this species is not a later heterotypic synonym of Streptococcus salivarius Andrewes and Horder 1906 (Approved Lists 1980).
Publication:
Tang T, Liu Y, Cao Y, Cheng K, Lindsay D, Bourdichon F, Dubois-Lozier A, Bassett S, Xu Y, Feng H, et al. Genomic insights support the taxonomic differentiation of Streptococcus thermophilus Orla-Jensen 1919 (Approved Lists 1980) and Streptococcus salivarius Andrewes and Horder 1906 (Approved Lists 1980) as individual species. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 2025; 75:6612.
🇨🇳
- 😷 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. — The risk group for Taiwan has been imported on 2024-11-03. The full classification is: risk group = 2, note = "P650 = v". — 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 2451 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.
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🧍 Schleifer et al. 1991 (see Validation List No. 54) propose the revived name Streptococcus thermophilus (basonym: Streptococcus salivarius subsp. thermophilus); but Streptococcus thermophilus cannot be revived because it appeared in the Approved Lists.
Publication:
Anonymous. Validation list no. 54. Validation of publication of new names and new combinations previously effectively published outside the IJSB. Int J Syst Bacteriol 1995; 45:619-620.
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🧍 The Validation List no. 54 [1] encompasses the following citation: "Name: Streptococcus thermophilus (basonym: Streptococcus salivarius subsp. thermophilus) - Proposed as: Revived name - Authors: Schleifer et al. 1991 [2] - Nomenclatural type: ATCC 19258(= NCDO 573)". However, Streptococcus thermophilus cannot be a revived name because it appeared in the Approved Lists (1980). Obviously, Streptococcus thermophilus nom. rev. (sic) is erroneously cited in the Validation List no. 54.
Publication:
Anonymous. Validation list no. 54. Validation of publication of new names and new combinations previously effectively published outside the IJSB. Int J Syst Bacteriol 1995; 45:619-620.
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⏲ According to Tang et al. (2025), this species is not a later heterotypic synonym of Streptococcus salivarius Andrewes and Horder 1906 (Approved Lists 1980).
Publication:
Tang T, Liu Y, Cao Y, Cheng K, Lindsay D, Bourdichon F, Dubois-Lozier A, Bassett S, Xu Y, Feng H, et al. Genomic insights support the taxonomic differentiation of Streptococcus thermophilus Orla-Jensen 1919 (Approved Lists 1980) and Streptococcus salivarius Andrewes and Horder 1906 (Approved Lists 1980) as individual species. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 2025; 75:6612.
Parent taxon: Streptococcus Rosenbach 1884 (Approved Lists 1980)
Assigned by: Orla-Jensen S. The lactic acid bacteria. Høst, Copenhagen, 1919.
Linking: To permanently link to this page, use https://lpsn.dsmz.de/species/streptococcus-thermophilusLink copied to clipboard
Record number: 781390
This LPSN page was printed on 2026-01-18 16:31:38