Botulinum Neurotoxin-Producing Bacteria. Isn’t It Time that We Called a Species a Species?

Smith, Theresa; Williamson, Charles H.  D.; Hill, Karen; Sahl, Jason; Keim, Paul

doi:10.1128/mBio.01469-18

Title: Botulinum Neurotoxin-Producing Bacteria. Isn’t It Time that We Called a Species a Species?

Journal Article · Tue Sep 25 00:00:00 EDT 2018 · mBio (Online)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1128/mBio.01469-18· OSTI ID:1477671

Smith, Theresa ^[1]; Williamson, Charles H. D. ^[1]; Hill, Karen ^[2]; Sahl, Jason ^[1];

^[1]

Northern Arizona Univ., Flagstaff, AZ (United States). The Pathogen and Microbiome Inst.
Northern Arizona Univ., Flagstaff, AZ (United States). The Pathogen and Microbiome Inst.; Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

Botulinum neurotoxins (BoNTs) are produced by a diverse set of seven clostridial species, though alternate naming systems have developed over the last 100 years. Starting in the 1950s, a single-species taxonomy where any bacterium producing BoNT would be designated Clostridium botulinum was introduced. As the extreme diversity of these strains was recognized, a secondary system of taxonomic “groups” evolved. It became clear that these groups also had members that did not produce BoNT, and in some cases, they were given formal species names. Genomic analysis now clearly identifies species affiliations whether an isolate is toxigenic or not. It is clear that C. botulinum group nomenclature is no longer appropriate and that there are recognized species names for each clostridium. We advocate for the use of the scientific binomials and that the single-species group nomenclature be abandoned.

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Research Organization:: Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE

Grant/Contract Number:: AC52-06NA25396

OSTI ID:: 1477671

Report Number(s):: LA-UR-18-27452

Journal Information:: mBio (Online), Vol. 9, Issue 5; ISSN 2150-7511

Publisher:: American Society for MicrobiologyCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 30 works

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The Copy Number of the spoVA ^2mob Operon Determines Pressure Resistance of Bacillus Endospores Li, Zhen; Schottroff, Felix; Simpson, David J. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, Vol. 85, Issue 19 https://doi.org/10.1128/aem.01596-19	journal	August 2019
Public Health Risk Associated with Botulism as Foodborne Zoonoses Rasetti-Escargueil, Christine; Lemichez, Emmanuel; Popoff, Michel R. Toxins, Vol. 12, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.3390/toxins12010017	journal	December 2019

Figures / Tables (2)

TABLE 1(p. 3)

FIG 1(p. 5)

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59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
Clostridium botulinum
botulism
botulinum neurotoxin
phylogenetic analysis
taxonomy