Name: Tannerella forsythia corrig. (Tanner et al. 1986) Sakamoto et al. 2002

Category: Species

Proposed as: comb. nov.

Basonym: Bacteroides forsythus Tanner et al. 1986

Etymology: for.sy’thi.a. N.L. fem. adj. forsythia, pertaining to the Forsyth Dental Center, where the species was first isolated

Pronunciation (Latin), gender: … for-SY-t^hi-a, feminine

Type strain: 338; ATCC 43037; CCUG 21028; CCUG 21028 A; CCUG 33064; CCUG 33226; CIP 105219; DSM 18712; FDC 338; JCM 10827

See detailed strain information at

Conduct genome-based taxonomy at

16S rRNA gene: AB547708 Analyse FASTA

Valid publication: Sakamoto M, Suzuki M, Umeda M, Ishikawa I, Benno Y. Reclassification of Bacteroides forsythus (Tanner et al. 1986) as Tannerella forsythensis corrig., gen. nov., comb. nov. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 2002; 52:841-849. 🇯🇵

IJSEM list: Anonymous. Notification list. Notification that new names and new combinations have appeared in volume 52, part 3 of the IJSEM. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 2002; 52:1077-1079.

Nomenclatural status: validly published under the ICNP

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

Risk group: 2

• Synonyms:

  • Name	Kind
    Bacteroides forsythus Tanner et al. 1986	homotypic synonym, validly published under the ICNP
    Tannerella forsythensis (Tanner et al. 1986) Sakamoto et al. 2002	other spelling of name, inaccurate spelling

• Notes:
  • 🥇 Nomenclatural type of the genus Tannerella Sakamoto et al. 2002. Publication: Sakamoto M, Suzuki M, Umeda M, Ishikawa I, Benno Y. Reclassification of Bacteroides forsythus (Tanner et al. 1986) as Tannerella forsythensis corrig., gen. nov., comb. nov. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 2002; 52:841-849. 🇯🇵
  • 😷 The risk group for Belgium has been imported on 2024-02-05. The full classification is: risk group = 2, note = "human pathogen". — The risk group for Canada has been imported on 2024-02-27. The full classification is: risk group = 2, note = "Animal classification RG: 2 - 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. — 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 1350 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. 🇬🇧
  • 🧍 Listed as forsythensis in the notification list. Publication: Anonymous. Notification list. Notification that new names and new combinations have appeared in volume 52, part 3 of the IJSEM. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 2002; 52:1077-1079.
  • 🧍 The phylogenetic position of this species was determined in a genome-scale analysis by García-López et al. (2019). Publication: Garcia-Lopez M, Meier-Kolthoff JP, Tindall BJ, Gronow S, Woyke T, Kyrpides NC, Hahnke RL, Goker M. Analysis of 1,000 Type-Strain Genomes Improves Taxonomic Classification of Bacteroidetes. Front Microbiol 2019; 10:2083. 🇩🇪
  • 🧍 The phylogenetic position of this species was determined in a genome-scale analysis by Hahnke et al. (2016). Publication: Hahnke RL, Meier-Kolthoff JP, Garcia-Lopez M, Mukherjee S, Huntemann M, Ivanova NN, Woyke T, Kyrpides NC, Klenk HP, Goker M. Genome-Based Taxonomic Classification of Bacteroidetes. Front Microbiol 2016; 7:2003. 🇩🇪
  • 🧍 Correction of the specific epithet: IJSEM 58:1974. Publication: Judicial Commission. Judicial Opinion No. 85. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 2008; 58:1974.
  • 🧍 At its meetings in July 2005, at the IUMS Congress in San Francisco, the Judicial Commission of the International Committee on Systematics of Prokaryotes ruled that, on the transfer of Bacteroides forsythus Tanner et al. 1986 to the genus Tannerella Sakamoto et al. 2002, the adjectival form of the specific epithet is to be retained [2]. Publication: Judicial Commission. Judicial Opinion No. 85. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 2008; 58:1974.
  • 🧍 Consequently the name of the new combination must be Tannerella forsythia, not Tannerella forsythensis as cited in the paper by Sakamoto et al. 2002 [3]. Publication: Sakamoto M, Suzuki M, Umeda M, Ishikawa I, Benno Y. Reclassification of Bacteroides forsythus (Tanner et al. 1986) as Tannerella forsythensis corrig., gen. nov., comb. nov. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 2002; 52:841-849. 🇯🇵
  • 🧍 The original spelling of the specific epithet, forsythus, was corrected to forsythensis by Sakamoto et al. 2002. In a Request for an Opinion, Maiden et al. [1] requested that the original adjectival form of the specific epithet be retained. The name "Tannerella forsythia" corrig. was accordingly proposed by these authors. Publication: Maiden MF, Cohee P, Tanner AC. Proposal to conserve the adjectival form of the specific epithet in the reclassification of Bacteroides forsythus Tanner et al. 1986 to the genus Tannerella Sakamoto et al. 2002 as Tannerella forsythia corrig., gen. nov., comb. nov. Request for an Opinion. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 2003; 53:2111-2112. 🇺🇸

Parent taxon: Tannerella Sakamoto et al. 2002

Assigned by: Sakamoto M, Suzuki M, Umeda M, Ishikawa I, Benno Y. Reclassification of Bacteroides forsythus (Tanner et al. 1986) as Tannerella forsythensis corrig., gen. nov., comb. nov. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 2002; 52:841-849. 🇯🇵

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Record number: 787491