Corynebacterium
Description
Corynebacterium is a genus of bacteria that are gram-positive and aerobic. They are widely distributed in nature in the microbiota of animals (including the human microbiota) and are mostly innocuous.
Function
Corynebacteria are one of the most common types of skin microbe, and women tend to have less of these bugs on their skin than do men (who also happen to carry them on their genitals).
Corynebacteria are among the first to disappear from the newly healing skin (injured by cut or abrasion, for example), but this disappearance is more marked in women than in men.
These microbes are also a common component of newborns' gut microbiota, acquired from breastfeeding, and babies born via C-section tend to have more than those delivered vaginally.
Pathology
Some 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. Some species are known for their pathogenic effects in humans and other animals. Perhaps the most notable one is C. diphtheriae, which acquires the capacity to produce diphtheria toxin only after interacting with a bacteriophage. Other pathogenic species in humans include: C. amicolatum, C. striatum, C. jeikeium, C. urealyticum, and C. xerosis; all of these are important as pathogens in immunosuppressed patients. Pathogenic species in other animals include C. bovis and C. renale.[17] This genus has been found to be part of the human salivary microbiome.