Any member of the genus Corynebacterium, consisting of gram-positive usually nonmotile irregularly rod-shaped bacteria, some of which are pathogenic or parasitic in humans and domestic animals, such as Corynebacterium diphtheriae, which causes diphtheria.
                                                            
                                                     
                        
                                                
                        
                        
                            Corynebacterium is a genus of Gram-positive, facultatively anaerobic, non-motile actinobacteria. Most do not cause disease, but are part of normal human skin flora.