Implication of Corynebacterium species in food’s contamination

The genus Corynebacterium represents one of the earliest described bacterial genera. Recently, we can observe an increasing number of publications describing different incidents of infections, where species of Corynebacterium are isolated as the etiological factor[1-6]. This genus was originally proposed for the causative organism of Corynebacterium diphtheriae (Lehmann and Neumann, 1896) for diphtheria with the most important human-pathogenic significance[7-9]. Strains of this species produce a strong exotoxin and are responsible for causing diphtheria. Actually, the genus Corynebacterium comprises a broad range of additional important different species with pathogenic significance including species pathogenic for animals, e.g. Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis (C. pseudotuberculosis)[10,11], Corynebacterium kutscheri[12,13], Corynebacterium canis[14] and a very large group of saprophytic species colonizing the skin and mucous membranes of man, which may become the cause of serious infections in immunocomprmosed and hospitalized patients. The genus Corynebacterium includes also species unrelated to the human organism, e.g. Corynebacterium glutamicum (C. glutamicum), producing L-glutamic acid and lysine, used in biotechnological processes on the industrial scale and in genetic studies[15-17]. However, the significance of the presence of the genus Corynebacterium in foods is not clearly established. These bacteria may be involved in spoilage or ripening of cheese and meats. They may also act as indicators of sanitation or hygienic quality. In this work, we summarized the implication of Corynebacterium species in food’s contamination.