The genus ''Bacterium'' was a taxon described in 1828 by
Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg
Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg (19 April 1795 – 27 June 1876) was a German naturalist, zoologist, comparative anatomist, geologist, and microscopist. Ehrenberg was an evangelist and was considered to be of the most famous and productive scie ...
. The type species was later changed from ''Bacterium triloculare'' to ''Bacterium coli'' (now ''
Escherichia coli
''Escherichia coli'' (),Wells, J. C. (2000) Longman Pronunciation Dictionary. Harlow ngland Pearson Education Ltd. also known as ''E. coli'' (), is a Gram-negative, facultative anaerobic, rod-shaped, coliform bacterium of the genus ''Escher ...
'') as it was lost.
In 1951 and then in 1954 it was recognised as a ''nomen generum rejiciendum'', which means a generic name to be rejected; this also applied to its family ''Bacteriaceae''.
This genus included non-spore forming rods whose relation to other species was obscure (a "
taxonomy dumping group"). This is different from the genus
Bacillus
''Bacillus'' (Latin "stick") is a genus of Gram-positive, rod-shaped bacteria, a member of the phylum ''Bacillota'', with 266 named species. The term is also used to describe the shape (rod) of other so-shaped bacteria; and the plural ''Bacilli ...
, whose members were spore forming rods (''sensu'' Cohn 1872
[COHN (F.): Untersuchungen über Bakterien. Beitrage zur Biologie der Pflanzen Heft 2, 1872, 1, 127-224.]).
Species
Many species were placed under the genus. Given that the genus was abolished in the process of forming the Bacteriological Code there is no such thing as an official list of species present. These are those accepted by Breed and Conn in 1935:
[
* ''Bacterium tumefaciens'', now '']Agrobacterium radiobacter
''Agrobacterium radiobacter'' (more commonly known as ''Agrobacterium tumefaciens'') is the causal agent of crown gall disease (the formation of tumours) in over 140 species of eudicots. It is a rod-shaped, Gram-negative soil bacterium. Sympto ...
''
* ''Bacterium aerogenes'', now ''Klebsiella aerogenes
''Klebsiella aerogenes'', previously known as ''Enterobacter aerogenes,'' is a Gram-negative, Oxidase test, oxidase negative, catalase positive, Citrate test, citrate positive, Indole test, indole negative, Bacillus, rod-shaped bacterium. The ba ...
''
* ''Bacterium violaceum'', now ''Chromobacterium violaceum
''Chromobacterium violaceum'' is a Gram-negative, facultative anaerobic, non-sporing coccobacillus. It is motile with the help of a single flagellum which is located at the pole of the coccobacillus. Usually, there are one or two more lateral f ...
''
* ''Bacterium amylovorum'', now ''Erwinia amylovora
Fire blight, also written fireblight, is a contagious disease affecting apples, pears, and some other members of the family Rosaceae. It is a serious concern to apple and pear producers. Under optimal conditions, it can destroy an entire orchard ...
''
* ''Bacterium zopfii'', now '' Kurthia zopfii''
* ''Bacterium monocytogenes'', now ''Listeria monocytogenes
''Listeria monocytogenes'' is the species of pathogenic bacteria that causes the infection listeriosis. It is a facultative anaerobic bacterium, capable of surviving in the presence or absence of oxygen. It can grow and reproduce inside the host' ...
''
* ''Bacterium pneumoniae'', now ''Klebsiella pneumoniae
''Klebsiella pneumoniae'' is a Gram-negative, non-motile, encapsulated, lactose-fermenting, facultative anaerobic, rod-shaped bacterium. It appears as a mucoid lactose fermenter on MacConkey agar.
Although found in the normal flora of the mouth ...
''
See also
* Bacteria
Bacteria (; singular: bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one biological cell. They constitute a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria were among ...
* Bacterial taxonomy
Bacterial taxonomy is the taxonomy, i.e. the rank-based classification, of bacteria.
In the scientific classification established by Carl Linnaeus, each species has to be assigned to a genus ( binary nomenclature), which in turn is a lower level ...
References
{{reflist
Obsolete bacteria taxa
Taxa named by Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg