TABLE 1.

Comparison of C. nigricans with other medically relevant Corynebacterium species which are encountered in the urogenital tract or are phylogenetically closely related taxa^d

Speciesa	Pigment and texture	Result of test for:
		NO3	Urea	Esc	PYRa/PYZ	PAL	Gluc	Malt	Suc	Fruc/mannose	Glyc/rib	Other (indicated)
C. nigricans (n = 5)b	Black, dry, pitting	−	−	−	−/v	v	+	+	(+)	+/+	v/v	Tyrosine +; O129 sensc, hipp +; prop −
C. aurimucosum	Yellowish, sticky or mucoid	−	−	−	−/+	+	+	+	+	+/−	−/−	Tyrosine and O129, ND; hipp +
C. minutissimum	White, creamy, moist	−	−	−	v/+	+	+	+	v	+/v	−/v	Tyrosine +; O129 sens; hipp −
C. amycolatum	White or buff, dry, adherent	v	v	−	−/+	+	+	v	v	+/+	−/+	Mycolates −; prop +; O129, resistant
C. glucuronolyticum	White or yellowish	v	v	v	−/+	+	+	v	+	+/+	−/+	β gur +; O129, can be resistant; prop +
C. riegelii	White, smooth	−	+	−	−/v	v	−	(+)	−	−/−	−/+	Glucose −
C. urealyticum	Gray-white, fastidious	−	+	−	−/+	v	−	−	−	−/−	−/−	Lipophilic

^aData according to Bernard (2), Funke and Bernard (4), Shukla et al. (14, 18), Yassin et al. (23), and this study.

^bCAMP inhibition reaction was not observed for any species. CAMP reaction was always observed for C. glucuronolyticum and occasionally for C. minutissimum.

^cBased on strain 91-0032 and 92-0360-1.

^dAbbreviations and symbols: +, positive; −, negative; v, variable; parentheses, delayed or weak reaction; ND, not determined; NO₃, nitrate reduction; Esc, esculin hydrolysis; PYRa, pyrrolidonyl arylamidase; PYZ, pyrazinamidase; PAL, alkaline phosphatase; Gluc, glucose; Malt, maltose; Suc, sucrose; Glyc, glycogen; Rib, ribose; sens, sensitive; hipp, hippurate hydrolysis; prop, propionic acid detected as product (otherwise species shown does not produce propionic acid); β gur, beta glucuronidase (using API Coryne or API ZYM [bioMérieux]) or equivalent.