What is "corynebacterium"

corynebacterium \co`ry*ne`bac*ter"i*um\, n. (MIcrobiol.) Any member of the genus Corynebacterium, consisting of gram-positive usually nonmotile irregularly rod-shaped bacteria, some of which are pathogenic or parasitic in humans and domestic animals, such as Corynebacterium diphtheriae, which causes diphtheria.

n. Any bacterium, of the genus ''Corynebacterium'', many of which are pathogenic or parasitic

n. any species of the genus Corynebacterium

Corynebacterium (, ) is a genus of bacteria that are gram-positive and aerobic. They are bacilli (rod-shaped), and in some phases of life they are, more particularly, club-shaped, which inspired the genus name (coryneform means "club-shaped").

They are widely distributed in nature in the microbiota of animals (including the human microbiota) and are mostly innocuous. Some are useful in industrial settings such as C. glutamicum. Others can cause human disease, including most notably diphtheria, which is caused by C. diphtheriae. As with various species of a microbiota (including their cousins in the genera Arcanobacterium and Trueperella), they usually are not pathogenic but can occasionally opportunistically capitalize on atypical access to tissues (via wounds) or weakened host defenses.