Name: Serratia liquefaciens (Grimes and Hennerty 1931) Bascomb et al. 1971 (Approved Lists 1980)

Category: Species

Proposed as: comb. nov.

Basonym: "Aerobacter liquefaciens" Grimes and Hennerty 1931

Etymology: li.que.fa’ciens. N.L. part. adj. liquefaciens, making liquid, dissolving

Gender: feminine

Type strain: ATCC 27592; CCUG 9285; CIP 103238; DSM 4487; JCM 1245; LMG 7884; NCTC 12962; NCTC 13756

See detailed strain information at

Conduct genome-based taxonomy at

16S rRNA gene: AB004752 Analyse FASTA

Effective publication: Bascomb S, Lapage SP, Willcox WR, Curtis MA. Numerical classification of the tribe Klebsielleae. J Gen Microbiol 1971; 66:279-295.

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
    "Aerobacter liquefaciens" Grimes and Hennerty 1931	homotypic synonym, not validly published, basonym of name in Approved Lists

• Notes:
  • 🧬 The phylogenomic assignment score of this taxon is 0.05229 (N = 6).
  • 😷 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". — 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".
  • 🎓 Name mentioned 358 times in PubMed until 2024-03-27.
  • 🧍 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.
  • 🧍 Regarded as junior synonym of Serratia proteamaculans(IJSB 28:508) but later revised (Curr. Microbiol. 7:71, 1982); request for conservation denied IJSB 36:577. Publication: Grimont PAD, Grimont F, Starr MP. Serratia proteamaculans (Paine and Stansfield) comb. nov., a senior heterotypic synonym of Serratia liquefaciens (Grimes and Hennerty) Bascomb et al. Int. J. Syst. Bacteriol. 1978; 28:503-510.
  • 🧍 This name was subject to a comment on a Request for an Opinion. Publication: Grimont PAD, Grimont F, Starr MP. Comment on the Request to the Judicial Commission to conserve the specific epithet liquefaciens over the specific epithet proteamaculans in the name of the organism currently known as Serratia liquefaciens. Int. J. Syst. Bacteriol. 1981; 31:211-212.
  • 🧍 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.
  • 🧍 On the Approved Lists of Bacterial Names, this nomenclatural name is incorrectly cited as Serratia liquefaciens (Grimes and Hennerty 1961[sic]) Bascomb et al. 1971. 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.

Parent taxon: Serratia Bizio 1823 (Approved Lists 1980)

Assigned by: Bascomb S, Lapage SP, Willcox WR, Curtis MA. Numerical classification of the tribe Klebsielleae. J Gen Microbiol 1971; 66:279-295.

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Record number: 780875