Recognition of Dermabacter hominis, formerly CDC fermentative coryneform group 3 and group 5 as a potential human pathogen

Thirty strains of fermentative coryneform-like bacteria designated CDC fermentative coryneform group 3 and coryneform group 5 were compared biochemically by cellular fatty acid analysis and by DNA relatedness with the type strain of Dermabacter hominis, ATCC 49369. DNA from 22 strains of both CDC groups showed 69 to 96 % relatedness (hydroxyapatite method) to labeled DNA from ATCC 49369 and to DNA from CDC group 3 strain G4964, and the strains are considered to belong to D. hominis. The remaining eight strains were genetically but not phenotypically differentiable from D. hominis. They were genetically heterogenous, but hybridization results indicated that they probably belong to the genus Dermabacter. Thirteen of the 22 D. hominis strains and all 8 of the other Dermabacter strains had been isolated from blood, which indicates the pathogenic potential of this species and genus. In 1988, Jones and Collins described four strains of gram-positive, asporogenous and nonmotile, rod-shaped bacteria belonging to a new genus, Dermabacter hominis (8). These strains had been isolated from the skin of healthy adults, and there was no evidence that the bacterium was related to human disease. Upon closer examination, D. hominis seemed to b