Abstract
SUMMARY: Corynebacterium pyogenes (Glage) differs to such an extent from the type species of Corynebacterium, Corynebacterium diphtheriae (Lehmann and Neumann), that it cannot be retained in this genus. Numerical phenetic and chemical data indicate a close relationship between Corynebacterium pyogenes and the species Actinomyces bovis (Harz). It is proposed that Corynebacterium pyogenes be reclassified in the genus Actinomyces, as Actinomyces pyogenes (Glage) comb.nov.